Origins

History preservation is a practice that has roots in ancient civilizations. As societies began to establish written forms of communication, they also began to document events of significance. Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, Greece, and Rome all produced written records for their civilizations. The Chinese invented the first forms of print around 4000BC, allowing for easier access to documents and other materials which could be read and studied by future generations. This was the first step towards organized document preservation, as the process of creating a written record of events later developed into sophisticated systems that are still used today. In the Middle Ages beyond, the Church and Royal families collected written records to keep track of legal documents, financial records, and correspondence. Early libraries and archives developed due to the need to store and preserve these important documents. Later, books, manuscripts, letters, photos, audio recordings, and other types of artifacts began to be collected and stored in purpose-built institutions. This marked the beginning of what would develop into predominantly public-funded history preservation efforts.