New Research Suggests Turin Shroud Could Be Ancient

A recent revelation by scientists has once again rekindled the debate around the Turin Shroud, one of the most enduring and disputed religious artifacts. Italy’s Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council conducted new research and concluded that it is “more probable” that the linen had wrapped Christ’s dead body. The scientists relied on Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering to measure the aging of cellulose in the flax fibers that make the shroud.

These findings provide an additional argument for the faithful and scientists who claim that the artifact is 2,000 years old as they also argue that Christ died between 18 and 36 AD. Previously, in 1988, when people used radiocarbon dating the tests proved the shroud was only 650 years old. The recent findings prove the tests’ inaccuracy as the shroud is now believed to be 2,100 years old if it had been kept at a constant temperature and humidity.

According to the Bible and the artifact, the shroud is of pale yellow color measures 4.3m by 1.1m, and bears imprints of a man’s front as the back. The Bible describes the clothes in which Jesus Christ was wrapped after the crucifixion and buried afterward as follows: “There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.” In a 1988 study, many criticized the tests claiming the material used was contaminated and the procedures flawed. A 2011 study further argued that the artifacts were made in medieval times and the findings matched the art history evidence.

Finally, a 2018 study also insisted that there was no reliable scientific evidence to prove the shroud wrapped a body because blood stain pattern analysis shows it does not support the hypothesis.