I’m currently cataloging a set of books on the economy of Argentina. Easy peasy, right? Except, when looking for a call number, I noticed that “economic history and conditions, Argentina” is not just broken up by general time periods, but specifically into “early” and “later,” with “early” including “Medieval.” WTF?
Yes, there were people in Argentina during what most folks would recognize as the Medieval period, but Medieval in this sense refers to a European cultural construct. Meaning, there really wasn’t any such thing as a Medieval period in Argentina. And, anyway, colonization of Argentina by Europeans roughly coincided with the end of the European Medieval period, so why include Medieval in the “early” time range. Wouldn’t Precolumbian make more sense?
red paper boat 