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The Place of Stone: Dighton Rock and the Erasure of America's Indigenous Past
Claimed by many to be the most frequently documented artifact in American archeology, Dighton Rock is a forty-ton boulder covered in petroglyphs in southern Massachusetts. First noted by New England colonists in 1680, the rock's markings have been debated endlessly by scholars and everyday people alike on both sides of the Atlantic. The glyphs have been erroneously assigned to an array of non-Indigenous Norsemen, Egyptians, Lost Tribes of Israel, vanished Portuguese explorers, and even a prince from Atlantis.
In this fascinating story rich in personalities and memorable characters, Douglas Hunter uses Dighton Rock to reveal the long, complex history of colonization, American archaeology, and the conceptualization of Indigenous people. Hunter argues that misinterpretations of the rock's markings share common motivations and have erased Indigenous people not only from their own history but from the landscape. He shows how Dighton Rock for centuries drove ideas about the original peopling of the Americas, including Bering Strait migration scenarios and the identity of the "Mound Builders." He argues the debates over Dighton Rock have served to answer two Who belongs in America, and to whom does America belong?
In this fascinating story rich in personalities and memorable characters, Douglas Hunter uses Dighton Rock to reveal the long, complex history of colonization, American archaeology, and the conceptualization of Indigenous people. Hunter argues that misinterpretations of the rock's markings share common motivations and have erased Indigenous people not only from their own history but from the landscape. He shows how Dighton Rock for centuries drove ideas about the original peopling of the Americas, including Bering Strait migration scenarios and the identity of the "Mound Builders." He argues the debates over Dighton Rock have served to answer two Who belongs in America, and to whom does America belong?
342 pages, Hardcover
First published August 4, 2017
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52 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Hunter
17 books28 followersGo to my website to learn more about my work.
In addition to being a writer and graphic artist, I hold a PhD in history (2015) from York University. I'm currently completing a book on the early career of Canadian landscape artist A.Y. Jackson, covering his formative years leading to the founding of the Group of Seven and his experiences as a soldier and war artist in the First World War. Hopefully, it will be out in 2021.
In addition to being a writer and graphic artist, I hold a PhD in history (2015) from York University. I'm currently completing a book on the early career of Canadian landscape artist A.Y. Jackson, covering his formative years leading to the founding of the Group of Seven and his experiences as a soldier and war artist in the First World War. Hopefully, it will be out in 2021.
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October 26, 2017
About a petroglyph on a giant stone in the river just nw of providence ri. Thesis is that colonizers will go to untold lengths to deny the sovereignty of colonized. This Indian carved rock has been attributed to: Vikings, phonecians, lost tribe of Israel , masons, Portuguese, but not natives who lived there.
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