The first inhabitants of the area were migrant Negritos, who were eventually replaced by Austronesians coming from Butuan. The new migrants established the red hematite petrographs in the Anda peninsula and would become a sacred site for ethnic communities. During the first half of the 16th century, the Sultanate of Ternate ransacked the area, along with the communities of western Bohol, specifically, the Kedatuan of Dapitan. When the Spanish arrived during the later half of the 16th century, the Anda communities were easily subjugated as they have already been ravaged by the Ternate people.