Known for its puzzling petroglyphs, Dighton Rock is one of Massachusetts’s greatest mysteries. The 40-ton boulder was initially located in the riverbed of the Taunton River at Berkley, Massachusetts. The slanted, six-sided boulder is approximately 5 feet high, 9.5 feet wide, and 11 feet long.

For more than 300 years, people have wondered about the lines, geometric shapes, drawings, and writing that appear on the rock and who created them.

In 1680, the English colonist Reverend John Danforth drew the petroglyphs, which have been preserved in the British Museum. However, his drawing conflicts with the reports of others and the current markings on the rock. In 1690, Reverend Cotton Mather described the rock in his book, The Wonderful Works of God Commemorated:

“Among the other Curiosities of New England, one is that of a mighty Rock, on a perpendicular side whereof by a River, which at High Tide covers part of it, there are very deeply Engraved, no man alive knows How or When about half a score Lines, near Ten Foot Long, and a foot and half broad, filled with strange Characters: which would suggest as odd Thoughts about them that were here before us, as there are odd Shapes in that Elaborate Monument…”

Over the years, numerous attempts have been made to decode the petroglyphs, with little success.

Theories of who made the carvings range from Native Americans to Vikings, the Portuguese, Chinese, and ancient Phoenicians (Eastern Mediterranean).

In 1963, state officials removed the boulder for preservation; it is now housed in a museum at Dighton Rock State Park, complete with exhibits that present each theory. In 1980, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2025.

Also See:

Bridgewater Triangle, Massachusetts

Legends, Ghosts, Myths & Mysteries

Mysteries in American History

Mysterious Objects & Places

Sources:

List Verse
Wikipedia