Dark Ages or Dark Age may refer to:

History and sociology

Dark Ages (historiography) The ''Dark Ages'' is a term for the Early Middle Ages (–10th centuries), or occasionally the entire Middle Ages (–15th centuries), in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which characterises it as marked by economic, int ...

, the use of the term ''Dark Ages'' by historians and lay people **

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

(5th–10th centuries), the centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire ***''

Saeculum obscurum (, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Rule of the Harlots or the Pornocracy, was a period in the history of the papacy during the first two thirds of the 10th century, following the chaos after the death of Pope Formosus in 896, which ...

'' ("dark age/century"), a period in the history of the papacy during the first two-thirds of the 10th century **

Byzantine Dark Ages Byzantine Dark Ages is a historiographical term for the period in the history of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, from around c. 630 to the 760s, which marks the transition between the late antique early Byzantine period and the "medieval" m ...

(7th–8th centuries), period of large-scale transformation, but obscure due to lack of sources, in Byzantine history ** *

Irish Dark Age The prehistory of Ireland has been pieced together from archaeological evidence, which has grown at an increasing rate over recent decades. It begins with the first evidence of permanent human residence in Ireland around 10,500 BC (although the ...

, a period of apparent economic and cultural stagnation in late pre-historic Ireland, lasting from c. 100 BC to c. AD 300 *

Parthian Dark Age The so-called "Parthian Dark Age" refers to a period of three decades in the history of Parthian Empire between the death (or last years) of Mithridates II in 91 BC, and the accession to the throne of Orodes II in 57 BC, with various date ranges be ...

, a period of three decades in the history of Parthian Empire *

Societal collapse Societal collapse (also known as civilizational collapse or systems collapse) is the fall of a complex human society characterized by the loss of cultural identity and of social complexity as an Complex adaptive system, adaptive system, the downf ...

, a situation in which a society collapses **

Late Bronze Age collapse The Late Bronze Age collapse was a period of societal collapse in the Mediterranean basin during the 12th century BC. It is thought to have affected much of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, in particular Egypt, Anatolia, the Aegea ...

(c. 1200 BC–1150 BC) ***

Greek Dark Ages The Greek Dark Ages ( 1180–800 BC) were earlier regarded as two continuous periods of Greek history: the Postpalatial Bronze Age (c. 1180–1050 BC) and the Prehistoric Iron Age or Early Iron Age (c. 1050–800 BC). The last included all the ...

(c. 1100 BC–750 BC), a period in the history of ancient Greece and Anatolia after the Late Bronze Age collapse *Dark ages of Khmer/Cambodia **

Post-Angkor period The post-Angkor period of Cambodia (), also called the Middle period, refers to the historical era from the early 15th century to 1863, the beginning of the French protectorate of Cambodia. As reliable sources (for the 15th and 16th centuries, ...

(1431–1863) **

Cambodian genocide The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodian citizens by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot. It resulted in the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, nearly 25% of Cambodia's populati ...

(1975–1979), the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodian people by the Khmer Rouge *

Digital dark age The digital dark age is a lack of historical information in the digital age as a direct result of outdated file formats, software, or hardware that becomes corrupt, scarce, or inaccessible as technologies evolve and data decays. Future generatio ...

, a future time when it might not be possible to read historical digital documents

Arts and entertainment

Film and television

* ''Dark Age'' (film), a 1987 Australian film directed by Arch Nicholson * ''Dark Ages'' (TV series), a 1999 British sitcom * '' The Dark Ages: An Age of Light'', a 2012 British documentary television series * '' Miracle Workers: Dark Ages'', the 2020 season of ''Miracle Workers'' * "The Dark Age" (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''), a 1997 television episode * "The Dark Age" (''Bungo Stray Dogs''), a 2016 television episode * "The Dark Age" (''Lighthouse''), a 2023 talk show episode * "The Dark Ages" (''Roseanne''), a 1992 television episode

Games

* ''Dark Ages'' (1991 video game), a platform game by Apogee Software * ''Dark Ages'' (1999 video game), an MMORPG by KRU Interactive *

Dark Age (collectible card game) Dark Age is an out-of-print collectible card game by Friedlander Publishing Group (FPG), originally released in July 1996. The game shared themes with the Mad Max franchise and featured work from artists such as Gerald Brom and Tim Bradstreet T ...

, a 1996 collectible card game * ''Dark Ages'', a 2012 expansion for the deck-building card game ''

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

'' * '' Doom: The Dark Ages'', a 2025 video game

Literature

* ''Dark Age'' (novel), a 2019 novel by Pierce Brown * ''The Dark Age'' (series), a 2002–2005 novel trilogy by Mark Chadbourn *

Dark Age of Comic Books The Modern Age of Comic Books is a period in the history of American superhero comic books which began in 1985 and continues through the present day. During approximately the first 15 years of this period, many comic book characters were redesi ...

(1986–late 1990s), a period in the American comics industry * ''The Dark Age'', a four-book maxiseries of the comics series ''

Astro City ''Astro City'', also known as ''Kurt Busiek's Astro City'', is an American superhero anthology comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Created and written by Kurt Busiek, the series is mostly illustrated by Brent And ...

Music

Dark Age (band) Dark Age is a German melodic death metal band from Hamburg, formed in 1994 under the name Dyer's Eve by Eike Freese (guitar, vocals), André Schumann (drums) and Oliver Fliegel (bass). History In 1994, Eike Freese, André Schumann and Oliver F ...

, a German metal band 1995–2013

Albums

* ''Dark Ages'' (album), by Soulfly, or the title song, 2005 * ''The Dark Ages'', an EP by

Andrea Parker Andrea Parker (born March 8, 1969) is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles on '' ER'', '' JAG'', '' The Pretender'', ''Less than Perfect'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and ''Pretty Little Liars''. Early years Parke ...

, 2001 * ''The Dark Ages'', an EP Bedhead, 1996 *

Little Dark Age ''Little Dark Age'' (abbreviated as ''LDA'') is the fourth studio album by the American rock band MGMT, released on February 9, 2018, through Columbia Records. It was the band's first album of new material in over four years, after the release ...

MGMT MGMT () is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, Ben Goldwasser. Originally signed to Cantora Records by the nascent ...

Songs

* "Dark Age" (song), by the Hippos, 1988 * "Dark Ages", by Jethro Tull from '' Stormwatch'', 1979 * "Dark Ages", by NoMeansNo from ''

Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed ''Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed'' is the third full-length album by Vancouver punk rock band Nomeansno. It was their second album with longtime guitarist Andy Kerr and first recorded after signing with the prominent punk rock label Alternat ...

'', 1988 * "Dark Ages", by Scar the Martyr from ''

Scar the Martyr Scar the Martyr was an American alternative metal band consisting of Joey Jordison, Kris Norris, Jed Simon, Kyle Konkiel and Matthew Tarach, active from 2013 to 2015. History The band was announced in April 2013 by drummer Joey Jordison, w ...

'', 2013 * "Dark Ages", by Yngwie Malmsteen from ''

Trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

'', 1986

Other uses

* Dark Ages (cosmology), in Big Bang cosmology, a period ending roughly 150 million to 800 million years after the Big Bang, after which stars began to form * "Dark Era", a hypothetical age of the universe in the far future