Bourne stone

Bourne stone

The Bourne Stone is an archaeological curiosity located in the town of Bourne, Massachusetts.

The object is a 300 pound chunk of pink granite, upon which two lines of carvings were made. For many years it served as the doorstep for a meetinghouse in Bourne. It is currently on display at the museum of the Bourne Historical Society.

The controversial amateur epigrapher Barry Fell claimed that the carvings were made in Iberian script and read as follows:

A proclamation. Of annexation. Do not deface. By this Hanno takes possession.

Fell asserted that "Hanno" referred to Hanno the Navigator, which, if true, would date the stone to about 570 BC and offer evidence that the Carthaginians crossed the Atlantic in ancient times.

Archaeologists and historians do not take these claims seriously and presume that, if the stone is anything more than a hoax, the carvings were made by Native Americans.

External links

* [http://www.explorenewengland.com/travel?article=articles/2006/05/14/code_of_mystery&page=3 "Explore New England article", printed in the Boston Globe]
*http://www.bournehistoricalsoc.org/bournestone.html - Bourne Historical Society's website containing information on the Bourne Stone.


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