A mola is a fabric panel which has been layered, often very complexly, in
reverse-appliquŽ patterns or images and used as the bodice section of the blouses worn by the Kuna women of Panama. The few records of the time indicate that when Europeans reached Panama in the 17th century, the Kuna women probably did not cover their upper bodies but instead painted them in geometric designs. It is possible that missionaries persuaded them to transfer their traditional torso paintings to decorated clothing. Today, the Kuna people are one of the few examples of an ancient culture which has survived contact with modern Western society.