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"The Shroud of Turin is a centuries old linen cloth that bears the image of a crucified man--a man that millions believe to be Jesus of Nazareth. Is it really the cloth that wrapped his crucified body, or is it simply a medieval forgery, a hoax perpetrated by some clever artist? Modern, twentieth century science has completed hundreds of thousands of hours of detailed study and intense research on the Shroud. It is, in fact, the single most studied artifact in human history, and we know more about it today than we ever have before. And yet, the controversy still rages." (from the introduction to one of the many Shroud websites).
There are no written records of the Shroud before the 14th c A.D. There are, however, tantalizing images (paintings, icons, coins) from earlier periods that could have been based on the head of the crucified man (as it would appear if the Shroud was folded up a certain way).
In 1978, a team of thirty U. S. scientists, many from the Jet Propulsion Lab in California, came together to form the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP). Photographic and spectroscopic examinations were made and over thirty sticky-tape samples representative of the body images, blood stains and non-image areas were taken. Most of the STURP team agreed that the Shroud was not a painting, with the notable exception of Dr. Walter McCrone of Chicago, who claims he found iron oxide and vermilion pigments.
In 1988, tiny samples of linen were extracted for radiocarbon dating by three reputable laboratories in Oxford (England), Zurich (Switzerland), and Arizona (USA) using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technique. All three radiocarbon labs came up with the same date, about 1375 A.D. However, a Russian group disputes this finding, saying that the fire of 1532 A.D. could have injected extra carbon into the cloth and thus have made the date appear to be more recent than it really is.
Many researchers who accept the radiocarbon dating still disagree about how the image was formed. The image of the crucified man is clearer in photographs than it is on the actual cloth. It contains three-dimensional information that is enhanced by computer manipulation and that many cite as evidence that the Shroud is not a painting (and is therefore the authentic burial cloth of Christ). Others have conducted experiments with making rubbings or scorching cloth that they claim reproduces most of the Shroud's features-evidence that the Shroud must be a forgery. Damon, et al. "Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin," Nature (Feb. 16, 1989) Kouznetsov, et al., "Effects of Fire..." Journal of Arch. Science (1996) McCrone, "The Shroud of Turin: Blood or Artist's Pigment?" Accounts of Chemical Research vol. 23 (March 1990)
More references.
Copyright 1999. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
