Era — A Vocabulary Story
Nur and the Stones of Skara Brae
Nur tightened her raincoat as the Orkney wind whipped across the cliffs. Her mother, a marine biologist working nearby, had promised her a proper adventure, and Skara Brae had not disappointed.
"Imagine," said Magnus, the guide, crouching beside a low stone doorway, "people lived here five thousand years ago. This village is older than the pyramids."
Nur peered into the snug chamber, with its stone shelves and hearth. "They had cupboards in that era?"
Era means a period of time marked by distinctive character, events, or circumstances.
"They certainly did. The Neolithic era was far cleverer than people assume. Pottery, jewellery, even underfloor drains."
A boy beside her, Ali, frowned. "But how do we know what era something belongs to?"
Magnus held up a flint blade. "Layers in the soil. Each era leaves its own fingerprint, like pages in a book. Dig carefully and the pages turn."
Nur thought about her own bedroom in Manchester, the heaps of drawings and broken hairbands under the bed. Future archaeologists might one day declare it the era of glitter pens.
The wind dropped suddenly, and for a moment the village felt occupied again, as though somebody had only just stepped out to fetch driftwood. Nur traced her finger along a worn stone bench, smoothed by hands from another era entirely, and grinned at Ali, who was already inventing names for the people who once sat there.
Word Definition
era
meaning
a period of time marked by distinctive character, events, or circumstances
synonyms
age · epoch · period · time · stage
antonyms
moment · instant · second
example sentence
The Victorian era was known for its strict social norms.