All about molas and the Kuna Indians
(From the book titled: Mola Art by: Kit S. Kapp)

Origin and development of the Mola

The mola is thought to have been in existence for little more than 125 years. Books written by the privateers John Exquemelin and Lionel Wafer in the late 17th century describe the dress of the Kuna people during their visits to the coast of Tierra Firma which indicated there had been little change since the discovery of the New World. For instance, the Kuna women of 1682 are pictured, in a print after Wafer, as being clothed much like they were when the first European discoverers Rodrigo de Bastidas in 1501 and Christopher Columbus in 1502 came to the coast of San Blas.