Record-Making and Record-Keeping in Early Societies. Geoffrey Yeo. New York: Routledge, 2021. xx, 205 pp. 9780367706272

At first glance, this book draws more heavily from the disciplines of anthropology, archaeology, or historiography than from that of archival science. This, however, is the beauty of the book; Record-Making and Record-Keeping in Early Societies, by Geoffrey Yeo, is an interdisciplinary reference work that weaves together methodologies to create a holistic look at the history of the discipline that would eventually become known as archiving. Yeo, an honorary senior research fellow in the Department of Information Studies at University College London, is well placed to undertake this scholarship, having worked in both archival and records management capacities. Yeo clearly defines the scope of Record-Making as covering the early recordkeeping practices of Mesopotamia, Egypt, early China, the Aegean, and the pre-colonial Americas. He acknowledges that the book does not cover every possible topic and region, even when accounting for its broad scope. Record-Making is generally organized chronologically; however, as some regions experienced different developments at different times, Yeo allows for fluidity in this organizational structure. Chapters one and two explore the advent of different forms of record-making and recordkeeping and define exactly what constitutes a record, while chapters three, four, and five go into detail on a regional basis, outlining advancements in recordkeeping specific to the different regions. Chapters six and seven examine literacy, orality, and trust in the authenticity of records while expanding upon the effects of different cultural and societal needs and pressures on recordkeeping. The final chapter opens a discussion about the relevance of current archival theory to ancient practice and vice versa. In this way, the book is roughly organized conceptually, regionally, and chronologically while allowing for fluidity among chapters. Comprehensive historical surveys of this kind that come to mind include Ernst Posner’s Archives in the Ancient World, written in 1972, and Paul Delsalle’s A History of Archival Practice, written in 1998 and translated into English in 2018. In the last several years, attention has been paid to early modern archiving practices in works such as Making Archives in Early Modern Europe: Proof, Information, and Political Record-Keeping, 1400–1700, by Randolph C. Head, published in 2019, and Archives and Information in the Early Modern World, edited by Kate Peters, Alexandra Walsham, and Liesbeth Corens and published in 2018. Yeo’s work fills a substantial gap in the literature; it provides an updated and expanded study of ancient archival practices and examines recordkeeping practices of regions and cultures within and beyond Europe. Stating that previous works such as Posner’s focused mainly on written works and therefore began their historical surveys with the advent of the written word, Yeo addresses non-written records in addition to written records in Record-Making. Yeo highlights Posner’s original work as a “landmark in its day,” but acknowledges that (like any academic work) its contents reflect the scholarly perspective of its day and, as such, can be considered outdated (p. viii). The literature was overdue for an update, and Yeo has stepped in to do just that. In the introduction to the 1998 French edition of A History of Archival Practice, Delsalle notes that the “crisis of identity” experienced by archivists may be due to the “lack of a reference framework,” and that knowing where archivists came from and where they are now is vital to obtaining a clear idea of the future. Posner, too, explains that “archivists must feel a need to explore the origins of their profession, to understand the circumstances and forces that have determined its evolution, and . . . to anticipate and prepare for the future.” I agree with this sentiment; knowing where …