Shroud

This is the PowerPoint slides to a presentation at the St. Louis Conference on the Shroud of Turin in October of 2014.  The title of the presentation was "MCNP Analysis of Neutrons Released from Jesus' Body in the Resurrection."  Many evidences indicate that the Shroud of Turin is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus and several dating methodologies are consistent with a first century date for the Shroud, but the C-14 dating method dated the Shroud to the middle ages (1260 to 1390 AD).  To determine whether neutron absorption in the Shroud could explain this C-14 dating to the middle ages, the MCNP (Monte Carlo n-Particle) nuclear analysis computer code was used to model Jesus' body wrapped in a burial shroud laying in a tomb.  It was then assumed that neutrons were homogeneously emitted from within the body while it was wrapped in the Shroud.  MCNP calculations were used to prove that if 3.0 x 10^18 neutrons were homogeneously emitted from within the body, then three mysteries related to C-14 dating would be explained:  1) why the three samples cut from the bottom corner of the Shroud in 1988 gave an average C-14 date of 1260 to 1390 AD,  2) why the three laboratories were in such poor agreement with each other indicating a slope or gradient in the data of about 40 years per cm so that if the sample point were moved only one inch the date would change by 100 years, and  3) why the Sudarium of Oviedo (believed to be the face cloth of Jesus) was C-14 dated to 700 AD.  In offering solutions to these three mysteries by use of one assumption, this approach appears to be very promising, but more research is necessary to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

The flow in a centrifugal impeller is simulated firstly by solving the Navier-Stokes equations with the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and the performance curves are then obtained. Effect of the match between the inlet duct and the impeller inlet on the performance of the centrifugal fan is studied numerically. Based on the numerical analysis, the flow characteristics of a centrifugal fan including an inlet duct, an impeller, a diffuser and a volute are predicted. The impeller consists of twelve blades. The numerical results indicate that the leakage loss is produced by the circular flow occurring in the shroud outside. At the same time, the flow is found to have returned to the upstream of the volute. Because of the interaction between the impeller and the volute, the flow parameters along the circumference in the impeller outlet and the volute inlet are not uniform. Also, the flow in each impeller passage is different apparently. Compared with the impeller, the efficiency of the centrifugal fan drops by about 3-4%. According to the calculated results, the linkage profile between the inlet duct and the impeller inlet is redesigned. The linkage smoothness is favorable to performance improvement and a wider range of operation of the fan. Finally, the effects of the straight shroud with different inclined angles on the performance of the fan are studied. In a reasonable range of inclined angles, the performance of the fan is enhanced by selecting a straight shroud and the difficulties in manufacturing the fans are lessened.

Keywords: centrifugal fan; shroud; volute; numerical simulation

This chapter of my book "Veiled Presence" explores how Lotto's images of the clothed body communicate a novel sense of being-in-the-world. In Lotto's paintings dress or drapery is possessed in both senses of the word: it proclaims ownership, but it is also stirred by strange animation. The intimate textiles of domestic life, including veils, kerchiefs and towels energize Lotto's smaller religious paintings, while his larger ones are enlivened by the movement of ritual drapes, such as vestments, altar cloths and curtains.  Such cloths function at times as "transitional objects", mediating between the real, the fictive and the imaginary.  Clothes disguise and drapery may hide or withold, as when a cloth is laid over a mirror.  It signals both remembering and forgetting.

The Shroud of Turin contains good-resolution full-size images, without pigment, of the front and back of a naked crucified man. This paper proposes a multi-step process for formation of these images. By following the evidence on the Shroud where it leads, without a presupposition of naturalism, a hypothesis for image formation can be developed that is consistent with the macroscopic and microscopic evidence on the Shroud. How the image was formed on the Shroud is similar in some respects to how the image of a person is formed on photographic paper. To form the image on the Shroud requires that the mechanism that discolored the fibers to discolor only the right fibers and the right length of fibers. To accomplish this, the discoloration mechanism must be controlled by information. This information must be that which defines the appearance of a naked crucified man, because that is what the image is, and this information must be deposited on the cloth to control the discoloration mechanism. This information must come from the body, because it is only inherent to the body. It was not inherent to the air or limestone in the tomb. This information can only be transported or communicated from the body to the cloth in a focused manner by radiation such as charged particles or infrared, visible, or ultraviolet light. Thus, the proposed hypothesis for image formation involves radiation emitted from the body that carries the information to the cloth that is required to control the discoloration mechanism. We can see the image because this information has been encoded into the pattern of discolored fibers that make the image. The radiation is believed to primarily be charged particles that caused a static discharge from the top portions of the fibers facing the body. This static discharge would cause heating due to electron flow, and possibly ozone production, that could discolor fibers consistent with the microscopic properties of the discoloration on the fibers in the image. This process also naturally results in a negative image that contains 3D or topographical information, and threads with a mottled appearance.

La Sindone è emblema della fede.
La fede è storia, e, in virtù di ciò, richiede che nei suoi confronti ci si rivolga con un approccio critico-scientifico.
Tuttavia la stessa fede rivela come tale appressamento risulti insufficiente e limitato, ovvero da compensare e corroborare, in quanto questa è considerazione del Signore Gesù Cristo a partire dalla sua comunione col Padre e con lo Spirito.

L’elaborato in questione parte da un’idea alquanto ardita: porre a raffronto, mantenendo sempre come fondale l’osservazione della Sindone, le risurrezioni presenti nel Nuovo Testamento, con la Risurrezione per antonomasia, ovvero quella di Gesù.

To explain the characteristics of the image on the Shroud of Turin, along with the 1988 carbon dating and the characteristics of the blood on the Shroud, it is hypothesized that an extremely brief intense burst of vertically collimated radiation was emitted within the body of the crucified man that was wrapped within the Shroud. This radiation, probably consisting primarily of charged particles, caused a static discharge from the top fibers facing the body, which caused heating in a very thin surface layer on the fibers, which caused molecular damage to the cellulose in this thin layer. With the passage of time and possibly ultraviolet exposure, this thin damaged cellulose layer on the fibers gradually became discolored to form the image of a man that was crucified exactly as Jesus was crucified. By this process, the radiation controlled the location of the discoloration, thus encoding into the image the information that defines the appearance of a crucified man, so that the image could have this appearance. The evidence for this hypothesis is its ability to explain the characteristics of the image, carbon date, and blood on the Shroud.

Dopo aver trasferito la propria capitale da Chambéry a Torino nell’anno 1563, «Era mente del duca di Savoia Emanuele Filiberto, ricuperati suoi stati […], di avere presso di sè la Sindone […] che ordinariamente lo teneva in Ciamberì». A Chambéry, infatti, «non pareva molto sicuro [il sacro Sindone] per li continui tumulti delli Hugonotti ne paesi vicini della Francia, et Delfinato».

The Turin Shroud bears an image of an apparent crucified man, chemically the result of some dehydrative, oxidative, and subsequent carbonyl conjugative process of cellulose [3] In the here described experiment the (lower) calyx side (bottom) part of an apple is imaged on a linen cloth with a special corona discharge mechanism. The calyx part of an apple can be compared in size and profile to approximately one eye on the Turin Shroud. The corona mechanism of this experiment is capable of approximately produce an image of objects that are between 0 and 10mm away from the object while maintaining sharpness. Corona imaging experiments had been previously done in 2014 by Giulio Fanti et al. [1] This experiment distinguishes itself from this previous experiment in that the setup and mechanism is substantially different. Energy considerations from this mechanism lead to the conclusion that the image on the shroud could have been formed with one single average lightning-bolt following the here described technique.

Au cours de la première moitié du XVIe siècle apparut à Besançon un suaire qui reportait l’image du Christ mort. Selon une tradition qui se répandit aux environs de 1750, le chevalier Othon de la Roche avait pris possession en 1204, au cours de  la quatrième croisade de Constantinople, de ce suaire qui fut amené en Bourgogne. La légende devint tellement notoire qu’elle supplanta celles qui avaient été inventées lors des deux siècles précédents. Pendant la Révolution, on vit dans le suaire de Besançon une simple peinture et il fut détruit. Au XXe siècle, sa légende fut reprise à propos d’un autre suaire, celui qui se trouve de nos jours à Turin, donnant naissance à une histoire tout à fait rocambolesque : le suaire qui se trouve aujourd’hui à Turin ne serait en fait que celui de Besançon qui aurait été remplacé frauduleusement par une copie lors de l’incendie de la cathédrale de la ville en 1350.
Ce livre raconte la véritable histoire du suaire de Besançon et la création des fausses légendes médiévales le concernant. Il apparaît que l’entreprise d’Othon de la Roche fut inventée, sur la base de documents falsifiés, par l’auteur d’un écrit anonyme contenu dans le manuscrit 826 de la Bibliothèque d'étude et de conservation de Besançon ; ce manuscrit contient aussi un autre écrit, tout autant anonyme, qui, lui, nie l’authenticité de la relique. Le lecteur trouvera ici la transcription intégrale du manuscrit, accompagnée d’un commentaire historique, et découvrira l’identité des deux auteurs jusqu’ici inconnus.

According to ancient tradition, the Shroud of Turin is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus.  To determine whether this could be true, more historical and scientific research has been done on the Shroud of Turin than on any other ancient artifact.  The purpose of this paper is to summarize the results of the scientific research on the Shroud of Turin.  This summary is based on the opinions of most Shroud researchers and on research by the author.  Research on the Shroud is summarized using nine summary statements.  A multi-step argument is given that the image on the Shroud is that of Jesus of Nazareth.  Two objections to these conclusions are considered – that they violate the laws of science and that the authenticity of the Shroud is disproven by the 1988 C14 dating of the Shroud, which concluded that the Shroud dates to 1260 to 1390 AD with a 95% probability.  Four reasons are discussed which indicate that this conclusion is not justified by the evidence.  This includes consideration of 14 indicators of the Shroud’s date and 6 indications that the 1988 statistical analysis of the C14 dating results was inadequate.  The neutron absorption hypothesis is used to explain the apparent C14 date to 1260 to 1390 AD.

According to legend, the Mandylion was an image of Christ’s face imprinted on a towel, kept in Edessa. This acheiopoieton image (“not made by human hands”) disappeared in the eighteenth century. The first records of another acheiropoieton relic appeared in mid-fourteenth century France: a long linen bearing the image of Jesus’ corpse, known nowadays as the Holy Shroud of Turin. Some believe the Mandylion and the Shroud to be the same object, first kept in Edessa, later translated to Constantinople, France and Italy. Andrea Nicolotti traces back the legend of the Edessean image in history and art, focusing especially on elements that could prove its identity with the Shroud, concluding that the Mandylion and the Shroud are two distinct objects.

More research has been done on the Shroud of Turin than any other ancient artifact. Many dedicated individuals and groups in many countries are doing this research, yet many controversies remain due to the small size of most samples and lack of access to the Shroud. This paper summarizes five areas related to this research. Regarding philosophy, research on the Shroud should be done by following the evidence where it leads, which is forensic science, while rejecting the requirements of naturalism so that the researcher can have a neutral mindset in the research. There is a continuous history of the Shroud back to about 1356, but there is convincing evidence that it was in Constantinople prior to 1204 AD, with copies of it in art and coins back to the 6 th and 7 th centuries. There is good evidence that the image was caused by radiation that altered the structure of the organic compounds in the linen fibers, perhaps by means of a static discharge from the fibers. This radiation must have been emitted from within the body to carry the information from the body to the cloth that was required to control the mechanism that discolored the fibers. The best explanation for the carbon dating of the Shroud to 1260 to 1390 AD is that neutrons were included in this radiation. These neutrons formed new C 14 in the fibers which could have shifted the C 14 date forward by up to thousands of years, depending on the location on the Shroud. The most reasonable conclusion is that the Shroud of Turin is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus, and that the image resulted from a unique event involving Jesus' body as it was wrapped within the Shroud.

Scientists cut samples from the corner of the Shroud of Turin for carbon dating in 1988.  Carbon dating is done by measuring the C14/C12 ratio of the samples.  The average date obtained by the three laboratories was 1260 ± 31, which produced a range of 1260 to 1390 when corrected for the changing concentration of C14 in the atmosphere.  But analysis indicates there are problems in the data:  1) two of the three laboratories obtained statistically different dates,  2) the carbon date is different for different locations on the cloth.  The date increases about 91 years for every inch (about 36 years for every cm) that the sample location is moved further from the bottom of the cloth, and  3) if the carbon date is assumed to be the same for every location on the Shroud, then the probability of obtaining a variation of the date for the 1988 Shroud samples at least as large as was obtained is only 1.4% (Table 6 in Ref. 3 and Table 4 in Ref. 16).  This value is below the usual acceptance criteria of 5.0% so the possibility that the carbon date is the same at every location should be rejected.  Thus, to explain the variation of the measured dates requires there to have very likely been an unidentified factor that altered the measured dates from the true date for the Shroud.  The amount this unidentified factor altered the measured dates is unknown.  This means that the 1260-1390 date from Damon, et. al. should be rejected, that is, given no credibility.  According to the neutron absorption hypothesis, this unidentified factor is neutron absorption that would have created new C14 on the cloth.  According to this hypothesis, neutrons were included in the burst of radiation from the body that formed the image of the crucified man that can be seen on the Shroud.  To change the carbon date from the time of Jesus’ death, about 30 AD, to 1260 AD requires neutron absorption to increase the amount of C14 on the samples by only 16%.

In 1988, the C14 dating methodology was used (Damon, et al., Nature Feb. 16, 1989)) to date samples from the Shroud of Turin to 1260 to 1390 AD.  But research during the last 30 years has convinced leading Shroud researchers that the Shroud of Turin is much older than 1260 to 1390 AD, thus contradicting the results of the C14 dating.  To solve this carbon dating problem for the Shroud of Turin, a three-part series has been written that covers:  1) background,  2) statistical analysis, and  3) the neutron absorption hypothesis.  Part 1 on background information should be read and understood before this paper is attempted.  This paper is part 2 in the series and discusses the statistical analysis of the 1988 C14 date measurements.  To the extent possible, this paper is written for the layman, and uses only the Chi-squared statistical analysis technique that was used in Damon.  Part 3 in this series hypothesizes that neutron absorption in the Shroud explains the results found in the statistical analysis in this paper, as well as the C14 date to 1260 to 1390 AD.  In this paper, several indications are discussed that the range of the 1988 C14 date measurements is much too large in comparison to the measurement uncertainties.  This indicates that there is a serious problem with the data.  Most significantly, a Chi-squared statistical analysis of the measurement data indicates that the variation in the C14 date measurements has only a 1.4% probability of being consistent with the measurement uncertainties.  This indicates about a 98% probability that something other than random measurement error was also affecting the measured values, such as, in statistical analysis terminology, a systematic bias.  Plotting the three laboratory average values indicates that this systematic bias is a function of the distance of the sample from the bottom of the Shroud.  This means that each measured value Mi was the result of the actual age (A) of the Shroud plus the bias B(xi, yi), where the xi and yi are the prior position coordinates of each sample (i) on the Shroud, combined with the one sigma random measurement error Ri.  The equation for this is Mi = A + B(xi, yi) ± Ri.  This systematic bias could have been sufficient to shift the date for the Shroud forward by up to thousands of years.  Part 3 discusses the cause for this systematic bias.  Since the measured values listed in Damon are not corrected for the magnitude of the bias, the 1988 C14 date for the Shroud of 1260 to 1390 AD should not be accepted as necessarily valid, so that the conclusion that the Shroud dates it the Middle Ages is not proven.

This is an evaluation of a paper published July 10, 2018, in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.  The paper is titled “A BPA Approach to the Shroud of Turin” by Matteo Borrini, Ph.D., and Luigi Garlaschelli, M. Sc. (Ref. 1).  A “BPA” is a bloodstain pattern analysis.  This paper on BPA of the Shroud is evaluated to determine the soundness of its methods and conclusions.  Several elements are included in this evaluation.  The general problems with this type of analysis and the specific problems with the experimental procedures in Ref. 1 are considered first.  The main conclusions are then considered, including possible explanations of the alleged inconsistencies.  This is followed by a description and evaluation of the six experiments involved in the BPA.  The paper identifies two alleged inconsistencies between the results of the experiments and the blood on the Shroud:  1) the blood on the back of the left hand compared to the forearm, and  2) the blood on the lower back compared to the location of the side wound.  As concluded in the last paragraph of Ref. 1, the alleged contradictions point “against the authenticity of the Shroud itself, suggesting the Turin linen was an artistic or ‘didactic’ representation from the XIV century.”  There is nothing in their BPA analysis to indicate the century that the Shroud originated, so the authors evidently based this 14th-century date on their view of previous research on “the historical records, the radiocarbon dating, and the chemical analysis” of the Shroud.  As a result, this evaluation next considers the impact of presuppositions on the results of research, and a summary of previous research on the Shroud of Turin.  This research has led most Shroud researchers to reject the view that the Shroud originated in the 13th or 14th centuries, contrary to the conclusion in Ref. 1.  The conclusion also does not necessarily follow from the experimental results because the alleged inconsistencies are more likely to indicate our lack of understanding of the process before, during, and after crucifixion or result from inadequacies in the experimental procedures.  The conclusion of this evaluation is that the experimental results discussed in Ref. 1 do not constitute valid evidence that the Shroud originated in the 14th century or constitute valid evidence that the Shroud of Turin is not the authentic burial cloth of Jesus.

Realizzazione editoriale ed informatica di Arun Maltese ([email protected]) È autorizzata la riproduzione a scopo non commerciale per uso interno e personale, fatti salvi i diritti morali degli autori, senza apportare alcuna modifica al testo e con chiara indicazione della fonte. È vietata ogni ripubblicazione non autorizzata. L'illecito sarà penalmente perseguibile a norma dell'art. 171 della Legge n. 633 del 22.04.41.

The chemical and physical properties of the Shroud of Turin, both of the non-image background, the image areas, the pinkish red bloodstains and the separate serum, especially their absorbance, fluorescence and FTIR spectra, are described and shown to be evidence for the presence of a pinkish red heme-madder complex, formed by the chemical interaction of authentic acid postmortem blood with yellow madder dye on the cloth before image formation. Besides the many normal blood characteristics, the lack of potassium of the red bloodstains indicates that the blood was hyperkalemic: that potassium had moved out of the red blood cells into the plasma, which inevitably occurs in acidemic blood. The absorbance spectra of the bloodstains

Secondo un’antica leggenda, nella città di Edessa era custodita una miracolosa immagine del volto di Cristo impressa su un asciugamano sul quale Gesù si sarebbe asciugato il viso. La tradizione bizantina lo conosce con il nome di Mandylion e ogni anno ricorda, il 16 di agosto, la sua traslazione da Edessa a Costantinopoli avvenuta nell’anno 944. Del presunto originale, oggi disperso, si sono perse le tracce non più tardi del XVIII secolo. In Francia, invece, a partire dalla metà del XIV secolo compaiono le prime attestazioni di un’altra reliquia: un lungo lenzuolo funerario che avrebbe contenuto il corpo di Gesù. Il telo reca l’immagine non solo del suo volto, ma dell’intero cadavere insanguinato. Acquisita dai Savoia, è oggi nota con il nome di Sindone ed è conservata a Torino. Secondo alcuni autori il Mandilio di Edessa e la Sindone di Torino sono lo stesso oggetto, che per alcuni secoli sarebbe stato conservato prima a Edessa, poi a Costantinopoli e infine in Francia. Ciò permetterebbe di attribuire alla Sindone un’esistenza dimostrabile perlomeno a partire dal V secolo. Questo volume ripercorre la storia della leggenda dell’immagine edessena, dalle origini sino alle sue più tardive attestazioni, letterarie e iconografiche, soffermandosi in particolare su quegli elementi che sono stati chiamati in causa per dimostrare la sua identità con la Sindone. La conclusione è negativa: il Mandilio e la Sindone sono due oggetti ben distinti e inconciliabili tra loro.

ICST-2017 - International Conference on the Shroud of Turin - July 19-22, 2017, TRAC Center, Pasco, Washington, USA

ABSTRACT

The Mandylion in Constantinople: Literary and Iconographic Sources

Alfonso Caccese1 - Emanuela Marinelli2 - Laura Provera3 - Domenico Repice4


1 In novitate radix, [email protected]
2 Collegamento pro Sindone, [email protected]
3 Pontificia Università Antonianum, [email protected]
2 Amici Romani della Sindone, [email protected]


The ancient Image of Edessa was moved to Constantinople in the year 944. This image, which is called Sindon in some sources, begins to be called Holy Mandylion right in the Byzantine capital. The solemn arrival in Constantinople is extensively described in the Narratio de Imagine Edessena attributed to the emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (10th century). The Sermon of Gregory Referendarius and the Codex Vossianus, both of the 10th century, describe the Edessa Image as the image of a whole human body. The Edessa Image is described in the Acts of Thaddeus with the term tetrádiplon (folded four times). These testimonies contribute to validate the hypothesis that the Edessa Image is actually the Shroud, folded. The depictions of the Man of Sorrows that circulated in Constantinople during the period of the ascertained presence of the Edessa Image find the confirmation of their probable sindonic origin in the literary sources. The authors also investigate the relationship between the Holy Shroud and the new depictions of the suffering Christ that originate in Constantinople in the period of the presence of the Mandylion. The image of the dead Christ, emerging from a tomb with his arms crossed, begins to spread. The image of the crucifix is also transformed: the still-living Christ gives way to the dead Christ, who is also depicted when he has just been removed from the cross and put on a sheet. These depictions seem to be referring to a progressive knowledge of the true nature of the Mandylion: a cloth with the entire image of the dead Christ. The existence of the Throne of the Magnaura is well-known; we can hypothesize the existence of a similar mechanism to exhibit the Mandylion-Shroud with equal authority. To confirm what has been stated above, the authors present some significant iconographic testimonies.

The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth bearing the front and back body images of what appears to be a crucified man. Although it is considered one of the archaeological objects most studied in history, nobody has been able to replicate the microscopic complexity of the chemical and physical characteristics of its faint images. After countless attempts, the inability to replicate the image on the Shroud prevents formulating a reliable hypothesis on the process of the image formation.
In this paper we summarize the state-of-the art of the scientific research on the Shroud, from the multidisciplinary STuRP analyses (1978) to the radiocarbon dating (1988), from biological clues to the linen irradiation experiments at the ENEA, till the illusory perception of low contrast stains on the Shroud.
As detailed in this paper, despite huge scientific efforts, the Shroud is still “a challenge to our intelligence”, a remarkable object whose scientific analyses lead to many clues, but any proof.

The Shroud of Turin is an approximately 14 x 3.5 feet linen cloth of unknown origins bearing the faint frontal and dorsal images of a man with reddish areas corresponding to wounds at the head, hands, side, feet and back.  Previous studies have shown that the reddish areas contain various blood components including hemoglobin, heme breakdown products (bilirubin), albumin, and immunoglobulin (1-5).  For over thirty years, it has been accepted by many that the blood on the Shroud is of human (primate) origin, but new findings that indicate the validity of previous data must be reassessed.  As discussed, cross-reactivity precludes a definitive conclusion that the bloodstains on the Shroud are of human, even primate, origin.

Formation of the image on the Shroud required three things:  a discoloration mechanism, energy, and information.  There must have been some process or mechanism that caused discoloration on the top portions of the fibers that make up the image on the Shroud.  Energy would have been required for the functioning of the discoloration mechanism to alter the covalent bonds of the carbon atoms in the cellulose molecules that caused the discoloration.  And information defining the shape of the body and the presence of some of the bones was needed to guide the process so that front and back images with good resolution could be formed.  It is argued that if we follow the evidence where it leads and not be constrained by a presupposition of naturalism, then we find that the best explanation for the evidence on the Shroud is that the required energy was delivered to the Shroud by radiation emitted from within the body, and that this radiation must have been vertically collimated both up and down.  Seventeen reasons are given for this view.  The radiation that was emitted from within the body, by means of its intensity and direction, carried the necessary information from the body to the Shroud so that the image could be formed.  A working hypothesis is developed for this emission of radiation from within the body in terms of when, where, what, why, and how.  Responses are given to multiple questions that arise regarding this working hypothesis.  And lastly a two-step image formation mechanism is proposed based on radiation emitted from within the body, which caused a corona discharge on the top portion of the fibers, which caused the discoloration of the fibers making up the images.

The Shroud of Turin is purported to be the literal burial shroud of Jesus Christ, and its authenticity has thus aroused intense debate and sometimes hostile rhetoric between those who believe that the Shroud is authentic (or at least believe that it is the actual burial shroud of a crucified man who may or may not have been Jesus), and those who do not.  Many attempts have been made by skeptics to challenge its authenticity on various grounds, as well as to develop alternative theories to explain how the images on the Shroud could have been faked or generated by a variety of mechanisms.  The Shroud of Turin is therefore the most highly studied relic in the history of the world. This paper summarizes all of the known and significant attempts to debunk it.

The publication of a considerable volume containing the Acts of two congresses which were held in Wien and Würzburg, about the images of Christ both of Eastern and Western origins, reopens the discussion regarding such images, especially the so-called acheiropoieta, that is "not made by human hands". A special mention goes to the Image of Camuliana, the Mandylion of Edessa, the Veronica, the Shroud of Turin and the Veil of Manoppello. Some studies are excellent, but once again the evidence is partially distorted by the fervent believers in the authenticity of the Shroud.

To determine whether the Shroud of Turin could be the authentic burial cloth of Jesus, the many mysteries related to the Shroud need to be explained with a logically consistent unbiased evidence-based approach that follows the evidence where it leads.  This is attempted in this paper based on information, radiation, and neutron absorption.  Why we can see the image on the Shroud is explained by the presence of information in the pattern of discolored fibers in the image.  Formation of the image is explained by radiation emitted from within the body that communicated the required information to the Shroud to form the image.  The carbon dating of the Shroud to 1260 to 1390 AD is explained by neutrons that were apparently included in this radiation.  A small fraction of these neutrons would have been absorbed in N14 in the Shroud to form new atoms of C14 in the Shroud.  This would have shifted the carbon date forward by up to thousands of years, depending on the location.  The man, who was crucified and whose body emitted radiation, is best understood to be Jesus.

In 1988, the C14 dating methodology was used (Damon, et al, Nature, Feb. 16, 1989.) to date samples from the Shroud of Turin to 1260 to 1390 AD.  But research during the last 30 years has convinced leading Shroud researchers that the Shroud is much older than 1260 to 1390 AD, thus contradicting the results of the C14 dating.  To solve this carbon dating problem for the Shroud, a three-part series has been written that covers:  1) background,  2) statistical analysis, and  3) the neutron absorption hypothesis, which is this paper.  A more thorough statistical analysis (Part 2) than that originally done in Damon indicates that something (technically called a systematic bias) probably affected the measurement values, in addition to the normal random measurement errors.  This systematic bias was neither identified nor quantified in Damon so that the resulting date of the measurements (1260 – 1390 AD) should not be used to date the Shroud.  There is much evidence to indicate that the image on the Shroud was caused by a burst of radiation from the body that was wrapped in it (Role of Radiation in Image Formation on the Shroud of Turin).  It is hypothesized in this paper that if neutrons were included in this burst of radiation, a small fraction of them would be absorbed in the trace amounts of N14 in the linen thus forming new C14 atoms by the (N14 + neutron --> C14 + proton) reaction.  This newly created C14 would be indistinguishable from the original C14 that was taken into the plant while it was alive, thus shifting the apparent C14 date in the positive direction by up to thousands of years.  Computer calculations were performed using the MCNP nuclear analysis computer code to determine that if 2 x 10^18 neutrons were emitted from the body it would have increased the C14 concentration at the sample location by 16%, which would have shifted the C14 date from 30 AD to 1260 AD.  This number of neutrons is only one in every ten billion that would have been in the body that was wrapped in the Shroud.  The MCNP nuclear analysis computer calculations were used to determine C14 dates for samples taken from anywhere on the Shroud.  It was found that most locations would date to the future, assuming the usual equations are used to determine the date from the C14 concentration.  Specifically, for material removed in 2002 from under the patches at the elbows, samples should date to about 3500 to 4500 AD.  This neutron absorption hypothesis is the only hypothesis that is consistent with the four things that are known about C14 dating as it relates to the Shroud of Turin:  1) the uncorrected date of 1260 AD at the 1988 sample location,  2) the slope of the dates from the three laboratories of about 36 years per cm,  3) the range of the dates for the 16 subsamples (1155 to 1410 AD), and  4) the C14 date of 700 AD for the Sudarium of Oviedo, which according to tradition is the face cloth of Jesus (John 20:7), and thus related to the Shroud.

A couple of recently published papers imply that researchers should consider the possibility that the Shroud of Turin plays an important role in the exegetical, historical and scientific inquiry. This would promote theological and epistemological reflections based upon the purportedly unusual ontological features of the Shroud itself, such as the confirmatory evidence of its nonhuman origins. Moreover, some scientific findings would seem to exclude the possibility of the relic being an artifact. In this study, we propose a completely different approach, denying any possible documentary role of the Shroud in the fields of biblical exegesis and the history of early Christianity. In addition, I focus on the pseudoscientific unreliability of the products of the “sindonological” research programme.

Alcuni saggi recentemente pubblicati invitano gli studiosi a prendere in considerazione la possibilità che la Sindone di Torino possa svolgere un ruolo importante all’interno della ricerca esegetica, storica e scientifica. Ciò dovrebbe stimolare una riflessione epistemologica e teologica basata su supposte caratteristiche inconsuete della Sindone stessa, fra cui l’evidenza della sua origine non umana. Certe risultanze scientifiche, inoltre, parrebbero escludere la possibilità che la reliquia sia un artefatto. Nel presente studio si propone un approccio del tutto diverso, negando alla Sindone qualsiasi ruolo nell’ambito dell’esegesi biblica e della storia del cristianesimo antico. Infine si sottolinea l’inattendibilità pseudoscientifica dei prodotti della ricerca “sindonologica”.

The Turin Shroud was extensively scientifically investigated in 1978. In its pinkish red bloodstains, normal features of human blood were found, but also seemingly anomalous ones. In the present study, hitherto unnoticed details of the data are presented, Shroud data and more modern reference data are compared, and the results of a few experiments with linen, madder dye and blood are shown. It turns out that the Shroud’s ‘anomalous’ data are strong consistent evidence that its bloodstains contain acid heme-madder lake, of which the heme derived from cold acid postmortem blood and the madder had been applied to the Shroud at manufacture. It implies that the bloodstains were formed on the Shroud before the still not reproduced body-image was. Several other ‘red-color’ hypotheses for the Shroud’s bloodstains are discussed and dismissed.

L’analisi esegetica e teologica della crocifissione di Gesù è momento assai complesso, nel quale si inseriscono varie tematiche in rapporto dinamico e dialogico fra loro, quali ad esempio l’ambientazione, l’attività presso la croce, gli ultimi eventi e la morte, gli avvenimenti dopo la morte, gli effetti esteriori e le reazioni dei presenti

In this article I identify the garment left by the young man who "ran away naked" (Mark 14,51-52) with the burial shroud of Jesus (John 19-20) and that young man with the secret disciple John Mark, co-author of the Gospel of John. I explain that it is possible and probable that Joseph of Arimathea bought the garment to give Jesus a burial “as is the burial custom of the Jews” (John 19,40), namely: in a garment. I also identify John Mark as having a high office in the temple, for which he wore a white sindōn with an ornamental margin, at the corners of which a blue cord could be fastened or loosened, in order to fulfill both the commandment of Num 15,38 for all garments and the conflicting commandment of Ex 28,5-6 for temple garments. This may account for the seam and margin in the Turin Shroud. I also account for the two missing corners of the Turin Shroud margin as an effort by John Mark to hide the fact that the burial shroud was his unique temple garment. The image of an oval plate with three Hebrew letters on it, which can be seen under the chin of the body on the Turin Shroud, may be the image of John Mark’s petalon, the Jewish ornament which distinguished him as a ruler.

To solve the mysteries of the Shroud of Turin, the Shroud has been researched more than on any other ancient artifact. These mysteries include the image, date, and blood. It would be very attractive if, by following the evidence where it leads, a single concept, referred to in the title as a "holistic solution", could be developed that could explain these mysteries. This paper presents such an explanation. Based on the scientific evidence, it is hypothesized that an extremely rapid intense burst of radiation was emitted from within the body that was wrapped in the Shroud. This hypothesis can explain why we can see the image, how the image was formed, why carbon dating produced a date of 1260-1390 AD for a cloth that is from the time of Jesus (about 30 to 33 AD), how the blood was thrust off the body onto the cloth, why there is no image under the blood, and why the blood has a reddish color. Methods to test this hypothesis are suggested, including measurement of the distribution of carbon dates across the Shroud and detection of long half-life isotopes on the threads and blood on the Shroud and in the proposed limestone tombs.

In 1988, the radiocarbon dating of a sample from the Shroud of Turin yielded a 13-14th century date (1260-1390). The scientists involved in the radiocarbon dating announced that the Shroud was medieval. However, many other evidences about the Shroud had already indicated that it couldn’t have been produced in the 13-14th century, and that it is much older. The announcement of a medieval date opened the doors for further studies that countered the radiocarbon dating. During these new researches, many hypotheses were established to help explain the discrepancy. One hypothesis, based on the unexpected presence of cotton and a gum crust in the carbon dating area, says that the carbon dating sample was chemically anomalous in comparison with the main part of the Shroud and that this sample contained a 16th -century repair. In this article I will question both this “anomaly” and that there was a repair, and propose another explanation for the research results: the Turin Shroud, already identified as a Pharisaic priest’s temple mantle in other ways, has an internal cotton-linen selvedge at the Pharisaic seam in the sample area; the mantle was also starched and slightly dyed with Madder at manufacture, to strengthen and give a uniform color to the temple garment, that – as the Talmud commentary Maimonides says of any temple garment – should look new and was not allowed to be washed. Later, when the Shroud was surviving the fire of 1532 AD, in light scorch areas, such as the radiocarbon dating area, the starch coating was roasted to a starch gum coating.

The “superficiality” of the Turin Shroud body image is a characteristic frequently described in scientific papers but too often in vague terms. Originating from a discussion among the members of the Shroud Science Group, this paper was compiled thoroughly describing the unique characteristics of the body image superficiality. This concept of superficiality is here described at the fabric,thread and fiber levels. At the fabric level, we show the importance of the geometry of the fabric. At the thread level, the very specific distribution of the color is emphasized. Finally, at the fiber level, we confirm that the color is a chemically altered layer about 200 nm thick found at the surface of the colored fibers (the inner part remains uncolored). We suggest that the chemical alteration that produced the discoloration is related to the primary cell wall of the linen fiber. The description of image superficiality here reported will be useful for the formulation of future hypotheses about the body image formation process