Ancient Peruvians invented surfing for fishing, one must assume independently from other cultures. There is archaeological evidence for reed surfing boards used by the Moche by 200 CE. An early description of the Inca surfing in Callao was documented by Jesuit missionary José de Acosta in 1590:
It is true to see them go fishing in Callao de Lima, was for me a thing of great recreation, because there were many and each one in a balsilla caballero [man’s raft], or sitting stubbornly cutting the waves of the sea, which is rough where they fish, they looked like the Tritons, or Neptunes, who paint upon the water.
