Search

This report discusses a little known aspect of the Jamaican past—the first pre-Columbian inhabitants of the island, known as the Jamaican Redware culture, who occupied the island as early as AD. 650. Redware populations came onto the island about two hundred years before the Taíno, yet their role in shaping the prehistoric development of Jamaica is far from clear. Being a coastally oriented people, Redware groups settled near the sea, as at the Blue Marlin site on the south coast of St. Elizabeth. New excavations there have begun to define the character of the Redware peoples who inhabited this area. This preliminary report occurs in advance of scientific analyses of the site's material remains, (e.g. fauna! analysis and radiocarbon dating), however, the discussions here should demonstrate the potential of the Blue Marlin site for defining Jamaica's earliest prehistory. Already significant features of Redware subsistence patterns and exploitation of the environment are beginning to emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. There are many known variations in the arterial supply to the liver. We sought to document the incidence and details of anomalies of the extrahepatic arteries in an unselected population in the West Indies. Methods. This study spanned 24 months. All 205 CT scans were evaluated at a hepatobiliary referral center in Trinidad and Tobago. We described the anomalies of the arterial supply to the liver using the conventional classification proposed by Michels. Results. 205 CT scans were evaluated, and 112 persons (54.6%) had conventional Type 1 anatomy. However, compared to the incidence in the existing medical literature, we encountered a greater incidence of replaced right hepatic arteries (18.1% vs 11%; P 0.04) and a lower incidence of accessory right hepatic arteries (2.4% vs 7%; P 0.030). Conclusion. Although 54.6% of persons in this West Indian population have conventional hepatic arterial supply, the distribution of anatomic variants of the right hepatic artery is quite different to that seen in North American and European centers. We found a higher incidence of replaced right hepatic arteries and a lower incidence of accessory right hepatic arteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]