The antediluvian (alternatively pre-diluvian or pre-Flood or even tertiary) period—meaning "before the deluge"—is the period referred to in the Bible between the Fall of man and the Deluge (flood) in the biblical cosmology. The narrative takes up chapters 1-6 (excluding the flood narrative) of the Genesis. The term found its way into early geology and lingered in science until the late Victorian era. Colloquially, the term is used to refer to any ancient and murky period.