Turin Shroud relic is not 'medieval fake' and scientists pinpoint date of creation

Scientists are edging closer to confirming whether the renowned Turin Shroud is indeed the burial cloth of Jesus . Experts have now suggested that the linen can be traced back to the start of the AD era, coinciding with the crucifixion of Jesus.

The shroud, which carries a faint image of a bearded man believed to be an imprint left by Jesus's body , was first exhibited in 1350 and has since been known as the Holy Shroud.

The most recent research, carried out by the Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council, used X-ray techniques to date the material. However, this discovery contradicts earlier studies from the 1980s, which proposed the shroud only dates back to the Middle Ages, thus questioning its existence 2000 years ago.

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On the contrary, the new research insists that the shroud is indeed that old. The team based in Italy contends that timelines match perfectly after scrutinizing eight sections of fabric from the Shroud.

This study concentrates on the ageing of flax cellulose and compares it to the time since the product was made, according to the Daily Star, reports the Mirror US .

As per the Bible, a man named Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the cloth around Jesus and placed both inside a tomb. The mystery surrounding the cloth has fascinated people for centuries, ever since its first public display nearly 700 years ago.

Housed at San Giovanni Battista since 1578, the Shroud of Turin's age has sparked debates, following a 1988 radiocarbon dating suggesting it's merely seven centuries old. Yet, new research is disputing these claims, with the study noting: "The data profiles were fully compatible with analogous measurements obtained on a linen sample whose dating, according to historical records, is 55-74 AD, found at Masada, Israel".

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Further comparisons made between the shroud's samples and medieval ones led to a conclusion that "to make the present result compatible with that of the 1988 radiocarbon test, the Shroud of Turn should have been conserved during its hypothetical seven centuries of life at a secular room temperature very close to the maximum values registered on the earth."

Dr Liberato De Caro, leading the fresh inquiry, suggests the prior radiocarbon dating is unreliable, stating: "Fabric samples are usually subject to all kinds of contamination, which cannot be completely removed from the dated specimen."

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