Dark Ages
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- the period in western Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the high Middle Ages, c. 500-1100 AD, during which Germanic tribes swept through Europe and North Africa, often attacking and destroying towns and settlements. It was judged to have been a time of relative unenlightenment, though scholarship was kept alive in the monasteries and learning was encouraged at the courts of Charlemagne and Alfred the Great.黑暗时代, 欧洲中世纪（西欧的一个时期, 介于罗马帝国崩溃和中世纪鼎盛时期之间, 约公元500-1100年, 其间, 日耳曼部族横扫欧洲和北非, 经常袭击并破坏城镇和居住区; 虽然修道院中的学术保持活跃, 查理曼和阿尔弗雷德大帝的宫廷里倡导学习, 但这一时期仍被认为是一个较为蒙昧的时期）。
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- a period of supposed unenlightenment黑暗时期, 蒙昧时期：
the dark ages of racism.
种族主义黑暗时期。
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the dark ages
humorous or derogatory an obscure or little-regarded period in the past, especially as characterizing an outdated attitude or practice〈幽默或贬〉说不清道不明的年代（过去不起眼或少有人关注的时期, 尤用以描述过时的态度或做法）：the judge is living in the dark ages.
简直不知道这法官生活在哪个年代。
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- Archaeology a period in Greece and the Aegean from the end of the Bronze Age until the beginning of the historical period. There was no building of palaces and fortresses, and the art of writing was apparently lost.【考古】黑暗时期（铜器时代末到纪元开始希腊和爱琴地区经历的时期, 其间没有宫殿和城堡, 文学艺术基本遗失）。