diff --git a/database.cc b/database.cc
index 4b615975ad..e922a3f9cc 100644
--- a/database.cc
+++ b/database.cc
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 #include "database.hh"
 #include "net/byteorder.hh"
+#include "db_clock.hh"
 
 bool
 less_unsigned(const bytes& v1, const bytes& v2) {
@@ -128,12 +129,42 @@ struct boolean_type_impl : public simple_type_impl<bool> {
     }
 };
 
+struct date_type_impl : public abstract_type {
+    date_type_impl() : abstract_type("date") {}
+    virtual void serialize(const boost::any& value, std::ostream& out) override {
+        auto v = boost::any_cast<db_clock::time_point>(value);
+        int64_t i = v.time_since_epoch().count();
+        i = net::hton(uint64_t(i));
+        out.write(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&i), 8);
+    }
+    virtual object_opt deserialize(std::istream& in) override {
+        int64_t tmp;
+        auto n = in.rdbuf()->sgetn(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&tmp), 8);
+        if (n == 0) {
+            return {};
+        }
+        if (n != 8) {
+            throw marshal_exception();
+        }
+        tmp = net::ntoh(uint64_t(tmp));
+        return boost::any(db_clock::time_point(db_clock::duration(tmp)));
+    }
+    virtual bool less(const bytes& b1, const bytes& b2) override {
+        // DateType has a bug where it compares the values as an unsigned type.
+        // Preserve this bug.
+        return default_less<db_clock::time_point>(b1, b2, [] (db_clock::time_point t1, db_clock::time_point t2) {
+            return uint64_t(t1.time_since_epoch().count() < t2.time_since_epoch().count());
+        });
+    }
+};
+
 thread_local shared_ptr<abstract_type> int_type(make_shared<int32_type_impl>());
 thread_local shared_ptr<abstract_type> long_type(make_shared<long_type_impl>());
 thread_local shared_ptr<abstract_type> ascii_type(make_shared<string_type_impl>("ascii"));
 thread_local shared_ptr<abstract_type> bytes_type(make_shared<bytes_type_impl>());
 thread_local shared_ptr<abstract_type> utf8_type(make_shared<string_type_impl>("utf8"));
 thread_local shared_ptr<abstract_type> boolean_type(make_shared<boolean_type_impl>());
+thread_local shared_ptr<abstract_type> date_type(make_shared<date_type_impl>());
 
 partition::partition(column_family& cf)
         : rows(key_compare(cf.clustering_key_type)) {