Dighton Rock

Dighton Rock is a large glacial boulder on the Taunton River in Massachusetts, notable for a complex of petroglyphs and carvings. The rock has been the subject of scholarly and popular debate over the origins of its inscriptions.

The boulder is displayed in a sheltered pavilion at Dighton Rock State Park where visitors can view the carved surfaces and read interpretive material summarising the range of historical and archaeological hypotheses. The site is small and oriented toward explanation of the inscriptions and local history.

The rock was noted by early European colonists and has been studied intermittently since the colonial period; interpretations have ranged widely, from Native American petroglyphs to claims of pre-Columbian transatlantic contact. To protect the stone it was moved into a protective pavilion on the riverbank in 1963.

Dighton Rock sits on the Taunton River at the border of the towns of Dighton and Berkley in southeastern Massachusetts, roughly south of Boston and accessible by local roads from the nearby towns.

• Size and inscriptions: A large boulder weighing around 40 tons that bears petroglyphs and inscriptions of uncertain origin; scholarly opinions have proposed Indigenous, Norse, Portuguese and other sources.
• Pavilion and protection: The rock was moved into a purpose-built pavilion in 1963 to protect it and to allow public display and interpretation on the Taunton River bank.

What to See #

• Museum pavilion: A sheltered pavilion built on the riverbank to house the rock, with interpretive panels explaining the inscriptions and the debates over their origins.