- The Shroud of Turin is much older than suggested by radiocarbon
dating carried out in the 1980s, according to a new study in a peer-reviewed
journal.
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- A research paper published in Thermochimica Acta suggests
the shroud is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old.
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- The author dismisses 1988 carbon dating tests which concluded
that the linen sheet was a medieval fake.
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- The shroud, which bears the faint image of a blood-covered
man, is believed by some to be Christ's burial cloth.
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- Raymond Rogers says that his research and chemical tests
show the sample used in the 1988 radiocarbon analysis was cut from a medieval
patch woven into the shroud to repair fire damage.
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- This was responsible for an erroneous date being assigned
to the original shroud cloth.
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- "The radiocarbon sample has completely different
chemical properties than the main part of the shroud relic," said
Mr Rogers, who is a retired chemist from Los Alamos National Laboratory
in New Mexico, US.
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- Fire damage
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- The linen sheet was damaged in several fires since its
existence was first recorded in France in 1357, including a church blaze
in 1532.
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- It was restored by nuns who patched the holes and stitched
the shroud to a reinforcing material known as the Holland cloth.
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- In his study, Mr Rogers analysed and compared the sample
used in the 1988 tests with other samples from the famous cloth.
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- Microchemical tests, which use tiny quantites of materials,
demonstrated that the shroud must be older than previously thought.
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- These tests revealed the presence of a chemical called
vanillin in the radiocarbon sample and in the Holland cloth, but not the
rest of the shroud.
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- Vanillin is produced by the thermal decomposition of
lignin, a chemical compound found in plant material such as flax. Levels
of vanillin in material such as linen fall over time, so it provides one
way to date the shroud.
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- 'Older date'
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- "The fact that vanillin cannot be detected in the
lignin on shroud fibres, Dead Sea scrolls linen and other very old linens
indicates that the shroud is quite old," Mr Rogers writes.
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- "A determination of the kinetics of vanillin loss
suggests the shroud is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old."
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- In the 1988 study, scientists from three universities
concluded that the cloth dated from some time between 1260 and 1390. This
ruled it out as the possible burial cloth that wrapped the body of Christ.
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- That led to the then Cardinal of Turin, Anastasio Alberto
Ballestrero, admitting the garment was a hoax.
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- But since, several attempts have been made to challenge
the authenticity of these tests. Researchers using high-resolution photography
claimed they had found indications of an "invisible" reweave
in the area used for testing.
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- "The sample tested was dyed using technology that
began to appear in Italy about the time the crusaders' last bastion fell
to the Mameluke Turks in AD 1291," said Mr Rogers.
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- "The radiocarbon sample cannot be older than about
AD 1290, agreeing with the age determined in 1988. However, the shroud
itself is actually much older."
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- © BBC MMV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4210369.stm
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