Who Made Dighton Rock?

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Photograph by Frank S. Davis, September 11, 1893.

In Berkeley, Massachusetts, by the Taunton River, construction workers found a giant rock covered in mysterious drawings and sigils. Named for the town that used to stand there, the Dighton Rock has confounded people ever since. No one know who carved these markings into the rock or why, or what the signs mean.

While the rock was “discovered” in 1963, the Reverend John Danforth made a drawing of the markings in 1680. This sketch is currently housed in the British museum. However, this drawing conflicts with reports from 1690, when Cotton Mather described a rock situated in the same place, but with different details.

The article shares a number of theories about the origin of the rock, but the most important is yours. Who carved these strange designs? What do they mean? Who could decipher them? Could Dighton Rock be part of the setting for your next story? What happens next?