In ancient times the White Mountains had been home to the Drúedain or Púkel-men, but during the later Second Age the Númenóreans began to colonise and exploit the coastal lands of Middle-earth, and the Drúedain retreated before the incomers. A few survived in the Drúadan Forest, but others removed to the mountains of Andrast and the coastlands northward of that peninsula. By the end of the Third Age, it was thought that this group of Púkel-men had become extinct, and so the region was given the name Drúwaith Iaur, 'Old Púkel-land' (that is, the land where the Púkel-men formerly lived). During the War of the Ring, however, it was discovered that the Drúedain of Drúwaith Iaur had in fact survived, dwelling in caves in the mountains.