Dighton Rock

Dighton Rock is a forty-ton sandstone boulder from the Taunton River in Berkley, Massachusetts, bearing petroglyphs whose age and meaning remain uncertain. Known in colonial records by the late 17th century, it drew early attention from John Danforth and Cotton Mather and soon became famous for the mystery surrounding its carvings. Observers disagreed about what the symbols meant and even how clearly they could still be read as the surface weathered. Competing theories attributed the inscriptions to Native Americans or various Old World visitors, though such claims often rested on speculation. Removed from the river in 1963, the rock is now preserved at Dighton Rock State Park.

Berkley, Massachusetts · United States