Complex sentence: Pre-Columbian rafts plied the Pacific Coast of South America from about 100 BCE, and possibly much earlier, until long after the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (1532 to 1572).
Split into simpler sentences: Pre-Columbian rafts plied the Pacific Coast of South America from about 100 BCE, and possibly much earlier. The use of rafts for commerce continued until long after the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (1532 to 1572).