Themiclesian Dark Ages
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The Themiclesian Dark Ages is a historical period in Themiclesia spanning c. 800 to 385 BCE. 19th-century historians named the period "dark" because of a want of historical records that originate or credibly describe the period, though this want has gradually been supplemented by archaeological findings.
Name
The term "Dark Ages" (昏, m′rjing) was first applied to Themiclesian history by the 17th-century historian Lord Prjêng (平君), whose phrase "dark" meant "obscure". In Prjêng's diction, there seemed to be relatively little pejorative or degenerate connotation. The obscurity of the period is understood as the lack of received history between or bridging two comparatively well-understood traditions, namely Themiclesia's description in Achahan and Gojun- and Jun-era literature, dating from the 12th to the 8th century, and the emergence of reliable annals in 385 BCE.
In Prjêng's time, the earliest mentions of Themiclesian in Menghean historiography dates to the 10th century BCE, describing it as a faraway place where lapis lazuli and turquoise are mined. Brief descriptions were included by Menghean court historians, and this was the "light" on Themiclesian history for some time. The recent discovery of Achahan texts describing Themiclesia has further expanded its protohistory, which had the effect of accentuating the lack of historical materials describing the intervening period.