Italian researchers have used a special X-ray technique to observe how the threads of the Shroud of Turin have aged, revealing that it was made at the time of Christ, some 2,000 years ago.
A controversial linen shroud, believed by some to be the burial cloth used by Jesus, has baffled the world for more than 600 years.
The Shroud of Turin was previously suspected to be the wrapping placed over Christ’s mutilated body after the crucifixion when it was first presented to the public in the 1350s.
But research in the 1980s appeared to debunk the claim by dating it back to the Middle Ages.
Now, Italian researchers using a new X-ray technique to date the material have confirmed it was made around the time of Christ, some 2,000 years ago.
They say the fact that the timelines match lends credence to the idea that the faint, bloodstained pattern of a man with his arms crossed in front of him was left by Jesus’ dead body.
The Bible states that Joseph of Arimathea wrapped Jesus’ body in a linen shroud and placed it inside the tomb.
Matthew 27:59-60 says, “Then Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new linen cloth, and laid it in a new tomb that he had cut through the rock face. Then he sealed the tomb by rolling a large stone against it. After he had done this, he went away.”
The shroud has captured the imagination of historians, church leaders, skeptics and Catholics alike since it was first presented to the public in the 1350s.
The French knight Geoffroi de Charny gave it to the dean of the church of Lirey, France, proclaiming it the Holy Shroud.
Has It has been preserved since 1578 in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy.
The cloth appears to show faint, brown images on the front and back, depicting an emaciated man with sunken eyes who was approximately 5 feet 3 inches tall.
Marks on the body also match wounds from Jesus’ crucifixion, including thorn marks on the head, lacerations on the back and bruises on the shoulders, mentioned in the Bible.
Historians have suggested that the cross he carried on his shoulders weighed around 300 pounds, which would have left him with bruises.
The Bible states that Jesus was whipped by the Romans, lining up the lacerations on his back, who also placed a crown of thorns on his head before the crucifixion.
In 1988, a team of international researchers analyzed a small piece of the shroud using carbon dating and determined that the cloth appeared to have been made sometime between 1260 and 1390 AD.
This technique uses the decay of a radioactive isotope of carbon (14C) to measure the time and date of objects containing carbon-bearing material.
The Bible states that Joseph of Arimathea wrapped Jesus’ body in a linen shroud and placed it in a new tomb.
Some experts have said the authenticity of the linen should no longer be disputed, stating that it was made from flax grown in the Middle East and features a helmet-style crown of thorns on the man’s face.
However, others have clung to the idea that it is a fake because of a 1988 radiocarbon dating analysis by three different laboratories, which determined it to be only seven centuries old.
Scientists at the Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council of Italy conducted a recent study using wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) that measured the natural aging of linen cellulose and converted it into elapsed time since its manufacture.
They studied eight small samples of fabric from the Shroud of Turin, subjecting them to X-rays to discover tiny details of the linen structure and cellulose patterns.
Cellulose is made up of long chains of sugar molecules linked together that break down over time, showing how long a garment or fabric has been around.
To date the shroud, the team used specific aging parameters, including temperature and humidity, which cause significant breakdown of cellulose.
Based on the amount of decomposition, the team determined that the Turin Shroud was likely kept at temperatures of about 72.5 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of about 55 percent for about 13 centuries before reaching Europe.
The 14-foot-long Shroud of Turin is touted as the wrapping used for Jesus’ body after the crucifixion, showing a faint, blood-stained pattern of a man with his arms crossed in front of him.
If it had been preserved under other conditions the aging would be different.
The researchers then compared the decomposition of cellulose in the shroud to that of other cloths found in Israel dating back to the first century.
‘The data profiles were fully compatible with analogous measurements obtained on a linen sample historically dated to 55-74 AD, found at Masada, Israel (the famous Herod fortress built on a limestone bedrock overlooking the Dead Sea),’ reads the study published in the journal Inheritance.
The team also compared the shroud to samples of cloth made between 1260 and 1390 AD and found no match.
‘For the present result to be compatible with that of the 1988 radiocarbon test, the Shroud of Turin should have been preserved during its hypothetical seven centuries of life at a secular ambient temperature very close to the maximum values recorded on Earth,’ the study says.
Based on the amount of decomposition, the team determined that the Turin Shroud was likely kept at temperatures of about 72.5 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of about 55 percent for about 13 centuries before reaching Europe.
Lead author Dr Liberato De Caro said in a statement that the 1988 test should be considered incorrect because “fabric samples are often subject to all kinds of contamination, which cannot be completely eliminated from the dated sample.”
“If the sample cleaning procedure is not carried out thoroughly, carbon-14 dating is not reliable,” he added.
‘This may have been the case in 1988, as confirmed by experimental evidence showing that moving from the periphery towards the centre of the sheet, along the longer side, there is a significant increase in carbon-14.’
Scientists have long been studying the Shroud of Turin in hopes of solving this centuries-old mystery.
Another group of experts from the Institute of Crystallography announced that it had found evidence that the shroud contained the blood of a torture victim.
They claimed to have identified substances such as creatinine and ferritin that are commonly found in patients suffering severe trauma such as torture.