In 2003 Awake, 9/22, the article "Science Was My Religion", they used the term epoch in describing the length of a creative day ... I remember at the time appreciating the reasonableness of what I thought was clarifying their abandoning the 7,000 year creative day teaching. Maybe they published something earlier. I know several months ago when having a conversation with my wife she still thought that the creative days were 7,000 years long. Goes to show not all JW's keep up with new understanding. Follow along or Jah's chariot will leave you at the station.
"For example, the fossil record is shown to match the general sequence of the appearance of living forms described in the book of Genesis. Furthermore, a creative day as understood by the ancients can mean an epoch of extended duration, in much the same way as the terms “period” and “era” are used by science in describing earth history. Thus, the Bible is not at odds with scientific findings. It indicates that the creative days lasted aeons. It does not support the conclusion of creationists who believe that those days were each 24 hours in length."