Shroud of Turin Matches a Piece of Linen From A.D. 55-74
Scientists from the National Research Council's Institute of Crystallography studied eight fabric samples from the Shroud.
Using a technique called wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), they analysed the flax cellulose - long chains of sugar molecules that slowly degrade over time.
The study was based on the conditions in which the shroud was kept: It was assumed to have been kept at a temperature of about 22.5 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of about 55 percent for 13 centuries before being brought to Chambery, France, in the 1350s.
The data profiles were fully compatible with analogous measurements made on a 55-74 AD linen sample from Masada, region of the Dead Sea.
The samples were also compared with similar linens from the 13th and 14th centuries, but none matched.
Dr Liberato De Caro, one of the scientists involved in the study, rejected a 1988 test that concluded the shroud was "probably a medieval forgery". He argues that these tests may have been affected by contamination and that the carbon-14 dating used in 1988 was "not reliable".
The study, the second in 2024, concluded that the shroud dates from the time of Christ. This is the fourth study to reach this conclusion in just over a decade.
Another study in 2024 was an isotope test which showed that the flax used to make the linen was grown in the Middle East.
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