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 Scientific Papers and Articles






This page allows you to review previous and ongoing Shroud research. Here you will find, in their entirety whenever possible, links to papers and articles written about the Shroud of Turin. The papers are listed below alphabetically by title. You can also find them listed alphabetically by author on the Website Library page. Each listing includes a brief description of its content.

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About the Shroud Body Image by Giovanni Fazio and Francesca Riotto. Open Journal Of Social Sciences, 2024, 12, 25-31. (January 10, 2024) (Open Access). Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"In this paper, we make a comparison among the results produced by scientists who come from the CISS, from the CICAP and from other sources. We discuss the trends of these origins regarding the formation of the Shroud Body Image. This last one is the most important result which still needs to be obtained from the investigations that are being carried out on the Shroud of Turin. The intention is to discover a relationship between articles and authors. The method used consisted of analysing many articles present in STERA Inc. The result, of the above research, highlights the always present conflict of interest which has inherent possibilities of pitting one against the other and vice versa. Therefore, if we want to achieve the result, we must change our behaviors and start again by obeying only scientific rules, without once again becoming prey to our ideologies. Just delete the Sindonology, to accept the chemical, physical, biological, forensic, textile, etc. sciences."

ABR Researches Jerusalem Tombs for the Shroud of Turin Project by Abigail Leavitt and Scott Stripling - Bible and Spade Magazine, May 30, 2017, Associates for Biblical Research. [21 June 2018] Here is an excerpt:

"...The Association of Scientists and Scholars International for the Shroud of Turin (ASSIST) recently launched a new initiative to determine if limestone particles found on the Shroud originated from a Jerusalem tomb or if the limestone came from another locale. This initiative supplements a similar test performed in the 1980’s by optical crystallographer Joseph Kohlbeck, which indicated that there were indeed particles of Jerusalem limestone on the Shroud. If the limestone and pollen particles originated from Jerusalem, the possibility that the Shroud did once envelope the crucified body of Jesus of Nazareth would be significantly enhanced. ASSIST team member Paul Maloney contacted Dr. Bryant Wood, ABR Director of Research, for help in obtaining samples from a tomb complex beneath École Biblique, beside the famous Garden Tomb in east Jerusalem. With detailed collection protocols from ASSIST, Dr. Wood, Dr. Scott Stripling, Abigail Leavitt, and Kent Wegner, all in Jerusalem for the final excavation at Khirbet el-Maqatir in December 2016 and January 2017, went to work...."

Abrupt Changes in the Yellowed Fibril Density in the Linen of Turin, The by F. Curciarello, V. De Leo, G. Fazio and G. Mandaglio

This article appeared in Radiation Effects & Defects In Solids, Volume 167, Issue 3, 2012 [Dec 2013]

O ADN do Sudário de Turim - ADN de Jesus? - Reavaliação dos estudos de ADN do Sudário de Turim e do Pano de Oviedo - In Portuguese - (The DNA of the Shroud of Turin - DNA of Jesus? - A review of the Shroud of Turin and Oviedo Cloth's DNA studies) by Antero de Frias Moreira - Centro Português de Sindonologia, January 9, 2019 [21 January 2019]

Antero is a Physician and Specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Executive Member of the Portuguese Center for Sindonology. Antero wrote this article in response to the 2017 History Channel documentary titled, "The Jesus Strand: A Search for DNA." (You can read what we said about that program in an article titled, "The Broken Strand."). I sent that link to Antero and he replied, "I read it and my opinion is quite similar to yours and my paper also deals with the speculations of that documentary." We are very happy to include this article for our Portuguese speaking viewers. English speakers can use an online translation service to read the article.

Against the Shroud. But With Mixed Cards by Emanuela Marinelli - English translation of Contro la Sindone. Ma a carte truccate (In Italian), Storia in Rete, n. 117-118, July/August 2015, pp. 28-38.

This is a link to Emanuela's in depth review of Shroud skeptic Andrea Nicolotti's Italian language book, Sindone - Storia e leggende di una reliquia controversa - Einaudi Storia, 2015 - Emanuela's review is available in both English and Italian languages at the above links.

Age Estimation of a Dried Bloodstain Using Different Techniques – A Review Article by Priyanka Singh, Academic Journal of Forensic Sciences, ISSN: 2581-4273, Volume 01, Issue 01, April 2018. [6 November 2019]

Although not specifically about the Shroud, the topic is still relevant to Shroud studies. Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "Bloodstains can be a crucial evidence in reconstructing the events that would have occurred during the crime. This information always strengthens and verifies the statement of witness and also narrow down the number of suspects. Currently there are many techniques available to establish the age of the bloodstains. However, there is no single reliable method which can be used in the field of forensic science to determine the exact time elapsed since the crime was committed. This review paper summarizes also the important techniques that have been used by many scientists for the determination of age of a blood stains at different conditions..."

Alan D. Adler and the Shroud of Turin - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - August 27, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"…Adler, who died in 2000, was a Ph.D. biochemist and blood porphyrin expert. He did not actually travel to Turin, but he did examine sticky-tapes and worked closely with other STURP members who were present for the examination. I had the pleasure of being with him at various talks and conferences and have some wonderful memories of him. He had the habit when presenting of using the words "in fact;" at a Shroud conference in 1986, a friend of his informed him that he did so twenty-seven times during his talk! I also remember during that talk that he stated he had determined there was definitely blood on the Shroud, saying impishly, "it's blood, B-L-U-D, blood." At a conference in 1999, he went over his time limit while giving his presentation and the organizers literally pulled the plug on his microphone. But he was a respected scientist, including by the authorities in Turin…"

Alice In Wonderland and the Shroud of Turin by Isabel Piczek - Alicia en el País de las Maravillas y la Sábana Santa de Turín (En Español) - Spanish translation by Pedro Vázquez

This article clearly addresses many of the questionable theories raised by recent books and articles in the popular press. The article includes 58 illustrations and may take a few minutes to load. Isabel Piczek is a noted monumental artist and theoretical physicist and a highly respected Shroud researcher. This presentation was originally delivered at the 1996 Esopus Conference.

The Alleged Contamination Argument Regarding the Age of the Turin Shroud by Joseph Accetta - Academia.edu - November 29, 2019 [7 November 2020] - Here is the Abstract:

“In this short paper we examine the implications surrounding the contention by some investigators that the cloth sample that was radiocarbon dated in 1995 was contaminated by material from a later era. The resulting date as independently determined by 3 laboratories was approximately coincident with its known 14th century historical origins and thus conflicted with the widely held belief that the cloth was actually 2000 years old. The potential possibilities regarding the origins of this contamination are reviewed. An analysis shows that the amount of a more plausible and recent material required to affect the C14 concentration to this extent dwarfs the mass of the original sample. The other significant question that arises from this contamination conjecture is the probability that such a presumably random draw from a source of contamination mixed with the actual sample just happens to yield a date that is almost in perfect coincidence with its historical date. The paper concludes that contamination is highly unlikely and therefore there is correspondingly little scientific justification to subject the Shroud to another radiocarbon dating procedure.”

An Alternate Hypothesis for the Image Color by Raymond N. Rogers [Written 11 September 2001, Published 31 August 2013]

In July 2013, Joe Marino sent me a scan of a paper he and Sue Benford received from Ray Rogers on September 11, 2001. When I reviewed it I realized that, although parts of the paper had been included in several other papers by Ray, as well as in his book, A Chemist's Perspective on the Shroud of Turin, nothing else Rogers wrote included all his observations and thoughts about image color in one dedicated article. So, with Joan Rogers' participation, we proof read and reformatted the paper and replaced the images with higher quality versions, and are making it available here on Shroud.com.

Analysis of an archaeological linen cloth: The shroud of Arquata by S. Bruni, C.M. Cellamare, P. Di Lazzaro, A. Gessi, G. Marghella, L. Stante, Radiation Physics and Chemistry, Volume 167, February 2020 - This is an updated version of an earlier paper. [21 January 2020]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "The linen cloth of the shroud of Arquata, a precious copy of the Shroud of Turin which dates back to 1653, was discovered in 1980 during the restoration works of the St. Francis church in Arquata del Tronto (Ascoli Piceno, Italy). Following the strong earthquake that hit central Italy in August 2016, the church was seriously damaged and it was therefore necessary to secure the shroud in the Cathedral of Ascoli Piceno. A multidisciplinary approach was required in order to evaluate the correct intervention methods that will be performed in the next future: although several investigation techniques were performed on the Arquata shroud, this paper focuses on the combination of two different techniques, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy microanalysis (SEM-EDS). Few samples of fibrils of the linen cloth of the Arquata shroud were analysed, achieving information about their morphology, the surface characteristics, the chemical composition and the possible deterioration phenomena..."

Analysis Of Ancient Fabrics, Example Of The Holy Shroud in Turin by Giulio Fanti, World Scientific News, 189 (2024) 236-257. (January 24, 2024) (Open Access). Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"As it is not always simple to perform a systematic study on an ancient textile considering the complexity of the various techniques that can be applied, this paper considers as an example, the case of the HS (Holy Shroud), discussing the recent tests applied to it with relative results. After a brief presentation of the textile and an explanation of its complexity, the paper presents some tests and results obtained from 1978…”

Analysis of micro-particles vacuumed from the Turin Shroud by Irene Calliari and Caterina Canovaro - MATEC Web of Conferences 36, published by EDP Sciences, 2015. Here is the Abstract:

"The results of some Turin Shroud particles (3 to 30 µm) examination are presented. A research was performed with the aim to classify the particles in order to correlate them with the environments where, from historical information, the Shroud resulted to have been exposed. Grains of pollen, flax and cotton fibers, mites, spores and fungi, mineral particles and particles related to body fluids were detected and classified. Attention has been focalized to the pollen grains, to discuss M. Frei’s results, without forgetting a more general investigation aimed at evidencing new information for the Shroud studies. A few cotton fiber were found to be mixed with flax ones. Moreover, many mineral particles are compatible with the Jerusalem soil."

[Editor's Note: Since it is impossible to determine the actual provenance of any particles found in the dusts aspirated from between the Shroud and the Holland Cloth in 1978 (are they from the Shroud, the backing cloth or somewhere else?), it is difficult to accept with scientific certainty any conclusions drawn solely from those samples].

Analysis of Photoelectric Colorimetry and Fluorimetry of the Turin Shroud by Larry Schwalbe and Samuel Pellicori - International Journal of Archaeology. Volume 11, Issue 1, June 2023, pp. 1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20231101.11 - Published January 30, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "We analyze spectrophotometric data collected directly on the Turin Shroud in 1978. Using standard methodologies, we transform 19 visual reflectance and 16 UV-fluorescent emission spectra to CIE xyY color space coordinates. We then compare these results to those of an Italian team of investigators. Comparing x-y chromaticities, the reflectivities from clear areas (background), image, and blood-stain locations agree with corresponding data collected independently by the Italian team. In both sets of data, the clusters from image and background areas overlap strongly and are clearly separated from the blood-stain points. Data from lightly scorched areas fall within the clusters from background and image locations. Data from deeper scorches diverge significantly, as do all scorch data from the Italian team. We generate similar colorimetric data from the spectral UV-fluorescence measurements made by the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP)…" Use this link to automatically download a pdf version of the entire paper.

Analysis of UV photographs of the Shroud of Turin by Thomas McAvoy, Applied Optics, Vol. 58, Issue 25, pp. 6958-6965, August 29, 2019 - OSA Publishing [6 November 2019]

This paper is the basis for the presentation made by Thomas McAvoy at the August 2019 Ancaster Conference and is based on his analysis of the recently released Vern Miller 1978 UV fluorescence photographs. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract: "...In this paper, recently published UV photographs of the Shroud are analyzed. It is shown that the Shroud exhibits very unique UV fluorescence properties, and fluoresces more on its right side than its left side. Also, where comparisons can be made, the Shroud fluoresces more on its dorsal side than its frontal side, and fluorescence is stronger near the center of the image on the Shroud than near the head or feet. Additional research is required to determine what produced these unique properties."

An Analysis of the DNA and Hematological Findings of the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo by Paul Alan Dreschnack, MD - Master's thesis, Harvard University Division of Continuing Education - November 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "…DNA analysis performed at the University of Padua traced the path across Europe from Jerusalem to Turin by examining the surface pollen. On its journey, many people venerated it, and added their DNA to what was already present. Contamination is extensive. More studies need to be done. We are examining the only remaining evidence of a violent crime. If there is evidence of a unique singular origin, the implications are more than theological. Even scientifically and medically speaking, it is more than a matter of faith. It already is a legend." [Editor's Note: Once on the page, click on the View/Open link to download the entire thesis].

Analyzing Radiocarbon Data Using Burr Statistics by Remi Van Haelst [18 July 2011]

This article is so specialized and technical, no one on our editorial review committee felt qualified to review it! Thus, we are including it with the caveat that it has not really been vetted and invite any qualified viewers to send us their own reviews.

Analyzing the face on the Shroud of Turin with a three-dimensional morphable model by Nicola Chinellato - Game and Media Technology Master Thesis, Supervisor: Prof. dr. Remco C. Veltkamp - Utrecht University 2017. This was actually the author's master's thesis. Here is the abstract:

"In this thesis I study the claim that the face that is visible on the Shroud of Turin contains some three-dimensional information. I do so with the aid of the computer vision technique called morphable models. I analyze how an implementation of such a model acts when given three-dimensional meshes obtained from real faces, from noise functions and finally from the Shroud face image, trying to understand whether the outputs of the model can be used to classify the inputs."

Anamorphosi (Anamorphosis) (In Italian) by Paolo Di Lazzaro and Daniele Murra - Academia.edu - October 2, 2015 [1 November 2015]

If you are interested in imaging, optics or photography, you might find this one page fully illustrated paper from our good friends at ENEA quite interesting. [FYI, anamorphosis is a distorted projection or drawing that appears normal when viewed from a particular point or with a suitable mirror or lens].

Ancient Bleaching Citations by Bill Meacham

Provides references to Pliny the Elder and ancient bleaching techniques. Originally posted to the Online Shroud Science Group [October 2010]

An Editorial and Review of the very last Shroud documentary I will ever appear in! by Barrie M. Schwortz [1 June 2020]

Includes a review of several Shroud documentaries but focuses mainly on Discovery Science Channel's "Legend of the Turin Shroud" that aired on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020.

An examination of art created in the 10th Century in Constantinople; the mystery of the Narthex mosaic, and the Shroud of Turin by Pam Moon – Academia.edu – October 8, 2020 [7 November 2020] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“This paper looks at the Christocentric art created during the Macedonian renaissance which is specifically attributed to Constantine VII, Romanos II and Basil Lekapenos. It compares it to the Shroud of Turin. Dated to the years after Constantine VII succeeded Romanos I, (945-985), this rich art must have been influenced by the Image of Edessa, also called the Holy Mandylion, an image of Christ ‘not-made-by-hands,’ which arrived in Constantinople on August 16th 944 AD. The 10th century image, right, shows the 1st century King Abgar V, possibly modelled on Constantine VII, holding the Image of Edessa…”

Answering A Skeptic by Barrie M. Schwortz

Response dated 16 May 2014 to an e-mail received from Gary A. Kentgen on 6 January 2014.

Answering the Savoy/Leonardo DaVinci Hypothesis by Richard B. Sorensen  (.pdf format) [151k] [June 2005]

In this well researched article, Richard compiles and presents all the evidence regarding the infamous "Leonardo Theory" proposed by some researchers, and includes links to all of his references.

Antioch and the Shroud by Jack Markwardt [June 1999] (From the 1999 Richmond Conference) - Italan language version by Fabio Quadrini [7 November 2020]

A new theory of the cloth's history prior to the 6th century, illustrated with color transparencies.

APPENDIX TO: Raymond Rogers' Communications to the Shroud Science Group on the Anomalous Nature of the C-14 Corner by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - November 14, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the introduction: "I recently published "Raymond Rogers' Communications to the Shroud Science Group on the Anomalous Nature of the C-14 Corner." In it, I highlighted material in an unpublished expanded paper of a published paper co-authored by multiple members of the online "Shroud Science Group" In the Epilogue, I stated that I would eventually publish detailed postings made by Ray Rogers on the C-14 corner. This appendix contains those postings."

Appraisal of the mistakes made regarding the Shroud samples taken in 1988 - and a suggested way of putting these behind us by Ian Wilson
Evaluación de los errores cometidos respecto a las muestras de la Sábana Santa obtenidas en 1988 y sugerencias para superarlos (En Español)

Ian Wilson's 1998 overview of the then current state of Shroud research and his plea for cooperation within the Shroud research community. This paper was originally presented at the 1998 Turin Symposium.

Ariel Agemian Biography by Annig Agemian Raley [15 July 2011]

Without doubt, the painting created by Armenian artist Ariel Agemian and based on the image of the Shroud, is world famous and has become one of the most beloved and iconic portrayals of Jesus of the 20th century. Although the image itself is well known, very few of us know much about the artist himself. I was fortunate to be contacted by his daughter, Annig Agemian Raley, who was kind enough to write a detailed biography of him that she has kindly allowed me to share here with you.

More On Ariel Agemian by Annig Agemian Raley [1 Nov 2011]

Further insights into the fascinating life of her father.

Atomic resolution studies detect new biologic evidences on the Turin Shroud by Elvio Carlino, Liberato De Caro, Cinzia Giannini, Giulio Fanti - PLoS ONE 12(6): e0180487, 2017. Here is the Abstract:

"We performed reproducible atomic resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy and Wide Angle X-ray Scanning Microscopy experiments studying for the first time the nanoscale properties of a pristine fiber taken from the Turin Shroud. We found evidence of biologic nanoparticles of creatinine bounded with small nanoparticles of iron oxide. The kind, size and distribution of the iron oxide nanoparticles cannot be dye for painting but are ferrihydrate cores of ferritin. The consistent bound of ferritin iron to creatinine occurs in human organism in case of a severe polytrauma. Our results point out that at the nanoscale a scenario of violence is recorded in the funeral fabric and suggest an explanation for some contradictory results so far published."

Authentic acid blood mordanted the madder-dyed Shroud of Turin pinkish red before image formation - Jesus was dead by A.A.M. van der Hoeven – Academia.edu - September 22, 2014 (corrected February 27, 2015) - 243 pages [16 August 2015]

This is far more than a "paper" as it is physically longer than many books. Here is just the first sentence of the abstract: "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."

Authentication of the Turin Shroud, The: An Issue in Archaeological Epistemology by William Meacham

Reprinted from the June 1983 edition of CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY, this article not only makes an interesting argument for the authenticity of the Shroud, circa 1983, but also provides us with excellent insight into the workings of Shroud science. Included after the article itself is a Comments section, with a variety of critiques from many noted Shroud researchers. This includes a rather heated debate by experts on both sides of the authenticity argument, followed by the author's direct and often pointed reply to their comments. However, it provides a great perspective on the nature of Shroud science itself and I am pleased to be able to make it available to you. It is illustrated and includes eleven images. A special word of thanks to the University of Chicago Press for giving me permission to reprint it on this website and Maurizio Marinelli for digitizing the text and images.

The Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. A written conversation with ChatGPT by Jose Luis Fernandez - Academia.edu - March 7, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "…The usage of knowledge representation, ontologies (Fernandez, 2005) and artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT could be very helpful in managing the vast knowledge about the Shroud of Turin for the sake of comprehension of this mystery… It is important to realize that how to prompt the tool is important for the results obtained (Hamilton, 2023), so nowadays the job of prompt engineer is needed. The tool has answers but not always the right answers. One important problem with AI is interpretability and other is bias (NIST, 2023)."

Autopsy on the Man of the Shroud, An by Robert Bucklin, M.D., J.D.
Autopsia sobre el Hombre de la Sábana Santa - En Español

This paper was first presented at the May 1997 Nice Symposium in Nice, France, and can also be reached via the "Shroud Conferences & Symposia" page of this website. The author was a world renowned forensic pathologist and medical examiner, and formerly Deputy Coronor of Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. He was an avid Shroud researcher for over 50 years and provided a clear and expert medical interpretation of the man depicted on the cloth. In 1978, Dr. Bucklin was a member of STURP, the team that performed the first ever in-depth examination of the Shroud. He died on September 19, 2001. I was very proud that he allowed me to include his important work on this website.

Behind the Scenes of a New Smithsonian Channel Shroud Documentary by Barrie M. Schwortz [May 2013]

This article will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the events that took place over the two days in which I participated in the taping of the program and my personal assessment of the results and conclusions that were reached.

Believing is Seeing: A Perspective on Perceiving Images of Objects on the Shroud of Turin by Mercedes Sheen and Timothy R. Jordan - Archive for the Psychology of Religion, Volume 38, Issue 2, pages 232 – 251, 2016. [10 October 2017] Here is the Summary:

"For many years, the Shroud of Turin has been famous for images of a body and face which many believe were formed during The Resurrection. More recently, however, claims have been made that the Shroud also contains evidence of other objects, and these claims have been used to support the view that the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus. However, these claims are based on marks that are barely visible and the psychological processes known to be involved in perceiving objects under data-limited conditions have been largely ignored. Here, we consider these processes and assess the claims that objects can be seen on the Shroud. We conclude that the viewing conditions provided by images of the Shroud are likely to lead to the illusory perception of objects, and knowing the psychological processes underlying these perceptions is crucial for accurately determining the provenance of the Shroud and other material artefacts."

Bibliography of Major Sources Pertaining to the Events of the 1988 C-14 Dating of the Shroud of Turin by Joseph G. Marino [August 2012]

Well known in the Shroud world, Joe Marino provides another carefully researched reference article for those interested in studying the C-14 dating and the events surrounding it.

Bibliographies by Joe Marino - Single PDF document with links to a series of important bibliographies for Shroud scholars. [30 June 2021] [Updated 30 September 2021] - Included below are links to each of the individual bibliographies, as well as more recently added ones:

Bl Sebastian Valfrè: The Black Thread, Reweave, and Unravelling the Shroud by Pam Moon [21 Jan 2015] - Italian language translation by Fabio Quadrini [added 21 January 2021]

Here is a brief excerpt from the article: "I was delighted to discover from Emanuela Marinelli and Will Meacham that the large black thread was probably stitched in 1694 by Bl Sebastian Valfrè. The invisible reweave hypothesis of Joe Marino and Sue Benford supported by Donna Campbell may refer to two or three different episodes of stitch repair and Bl Sebastian’s repair was one episode."

Blood Kinetics and Narrative Performance in Early Modern Devotions to the Shroud of Turin by Andrew Casper - Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. L, No. 2, Summer 2019 [1 June 2020]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: “The Shroud of Turin experienced its most intense devotional enthusiasm in the century after its first public exhibition in Turin in 1578. During this period, the cloth and its mysterious imprint of Christ’s body transcended the static nature of an icon by becoming a performative image in the context of private devotional worship…”

Blood on the Shroud of Turin by J.H. Heller and A. D. Adler - Applied Optics, Vol. 19, No. 16, 1980, pp. 2742-2744.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Blood on the Shroud of Turin: An Immunological Review by Kelly P. Kearse [August 2012]

Relatively new in the Shroud world, Kelly Kearse is a blood expert who has taken a very strong interest in the Shroud and has studied and evaluated the existing blood evidence very carefully. He has written articles on the subject on the online ShroudScience Group and the blogs. This excellent article is a comprehensive review of his recent blood studies.

The Blood on the Shroud of Turin: Species Unknown by Kelly Kearse, Academia.edu, 26 May 2019.

This is the latest offering from a noted Shroud scholar and blood and DNA expert. Here is the abstract: "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."

Blood reinforced by pigments in the reddish stains of the Turin Shroud by Giulio Fanti and Giuseppe Zagotto - Journal of Cultural Heritage, Volume 25, May–June 2017, Pages 113–120. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"Samples from the Turin Shroud (TS) furnished by STERA Inc. have been analyzed and compared with both material coming from the TS and sticky tapes taken from a copy of the TS produced in 1656 and conserved at Palma di Montechiaro, Sicily, Italy. The attention has been focalized to the many reddish particles contained in these samples that appear to be of many types, shape and sizes. Some of them seem to correspond to the so called “sub-micron particles” recognized by W. McCrone in the form of red ochre (iron oxide) and vermillion (mercury sulfide); the others, as described by many researchers of the STuRP like A. Adler and J. Heller, seem typical of blood."

Blood stains of the Turin Shroud 2015: beyond personal hopes and limitations of techniques by Giovanni Di Minno, Rosanna Scala, Itala Ventre, Giovanni de Gaetano. Internal and Emergency Medicine, June 2016, Volume 11, Issue 4, pp 507-516. First online: 21 March 2016. Abstract, Preview and References available free. Article behind pay wall. Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"In the early ‘80s, evidence was provided that, rather than a dye (red okra), hemoglobin was indeed responsible for the alleged blood stains of the Turin Shroud. Such stains were shown to belong to an MNS positive individual of the AB group, and the halos surrounding the blood stains were compatible with serum containing trace amounts of bilirubin, albumin and immunoglobulins. However, being only based on indirect and circumstantial evidence, most of these data were challenged."

The Bloodstains on the Holy Shroud of Turin: Answer to several questions (As Manchas sanguineas do Santo Sudário de Turim: Resposta a várias questões) by Antero de Frias Moreira – Centro Português de Sindonologia –March 24, 2022 [8 May 2022] (Primarily in Portuguese language but abstract in English) – Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

“Accordingly to the scientific studies on the Bloodstains of the Shroud of Turin, namely the most updated ones, the theory that they are an artistic rendition using pictoric pigments is unequivocally discarded, and it is concluded for their hematic nature, corresponding to blood exudates impressed on the cloth from clots at the surface of a corpse, however there is not yet a definitive explanation for their reddish color…”

Body Image Formation Hypothesis based on Corona Discharge by Giulio Fanti  (.pdf format) [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference)

This paper details Giulio's controversial theory that the Shroud's image was formed via coronal discharge. Additionally, here is a link to the presentation slides Giulio showed at the conference: http://www.dim.unipd.it/fanti/PDFpresCORONA.pdf

The Body Image on the Shroud Was Not Produced by Protons by Giovanni Fazio – SCIENTIFIC CULTURE, Vol. 8, No. 2, (2022), pp. 17-21 – March 12, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is the abstract:

“In this article, we want to demonstrate that the attempts to yield a Shroud Body Image, utilizing protons, are futile. For two-three decades, several articles on the subject have not been enriching enough. It is maintained that in the body-sheet contact areas, the protons, with the appropriate energy E*, penetrate to a depth equal to that of the Shroud Body Image (200 nm). In areas away from body it is necessary to take into account the protons energy dissipation in the air. Hence, through the thickness of the air, the protons cannot have enough energy to penetrate the linen up to 200 nm. These particles could not reach the linen areas either furthest from the body, as it is in this case. We argue that the protons energy is not enough to reach the furthest areas of the sheet which will remain unstained. Therefore, no image and, consequently, nor the so-called ‘Proton Model’ can explain the Shroud Body Image formation.”

The burial cloth of Jesus Christ or Medieval Art? Evidence for authenticity - Pam Moon - Academia.edu - August 17, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"A concise argument is presented for the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin as the burial linen of Jesus Christ. The paper reasons that the Shroud could not have been created by an artist in 1355, when it was first displayed in Western Europe. The Shroud of Turin Research Project (STuRP) identified the different scientific properties of the Shroud, from image formation to blood flow…"

The Burial Shroud of Christ in Historical Liturgical Practice by Dr. Cheryl White - Academia.edu - November 10, 2020. [21 January 2021] Here is the abstract:

"From the earliest Christian understanding of the altar as representing the sepulcher of Christ came the use of a pure linen cloth upon it for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is a practice that blends the consistency of history and liturgy with the Passion narrative. The known history of the general use of altar cloths signals an understanding of the enshrouding of Christ that cannot be explained solely by the Gospel accounts and their differing descriptors. The prescribed use in the early Church, certainly by the fourth century, indicates knowledge of a single pure linen cloth, and one of considerable length. Interestingly, the Church adopted a vigorous emphasis on the cloth's material composition from the fourth century through the early seventh century, a time coinciding with a succession of popes who had all previously served as apocrisiarus (papal legate) to the imperial city of Constantinople. Their renewed interest and emphasis on the liturgical correctness of the altar cloth and its pure linen composition may indeed derive from knowledge of the actual burial shroud held in the Byzantine Empire. One can trace this knowledge throughout the medieval papacy with the institution of increasingly specific liturgical norms found in not only canon law, but also clearly represented in medieval artwork."

Can a Corona Discharge Explain the Body Image of the Turin Shroud? by G. Fanti

This article is from the Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, March/April 2010, Volume 54, Issue 2, pp. 020508-(11) (Abstract Only)

Can a latent image explain the characteristics of the Shroud body image? by G. Fazio & G. Mandaglio

(2011), Radiation Effects and Defects in Solids, DOI:10.1080/10420150.2011.595413 (Abstract Only without Subscription) [Jan 2012]

Case Study: The Shroud of Turin - Iconic Relic or Fake? The Role of Raman Spectroscopic Analysis in Its Forensic Appraisal by Howell G. M. Edwards, Peter Vandenabeele and Philippe Colomban - Raman Spectroscopy in Cultural Heritage Preservation, pp 439-452 - October 14, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "One of the most important linen textile specimens to be subjected to scientific analysis is unquestionably the Shroud of Turin, which is believed by many to have been the burial cloth of Jesus Christ in which He was placed in the garden tomb following His crucifixion. Intense periods of multidisciplinary scientific activity over approximately 40 years, including a radiocarbon dating of 1260-1390 CE with a mean value of 1325 +/? 65 in 1989, which unequivocally placed the linen manufacture in the mediaeval period, has resulted in an acrimonious and highly controversial furore of debate and division of opinion between the protagonists. Some believe that it is a fake and there are those of a contrary opinion who believe that the radiocarbon date is incorrect and that the artefact is genuinely the burial shroud of Christ…"

Cathar Crucifix, The: New Evidence of the Shroud's Missing History by Jack Markwardt  (.pdf format) [50k] (From the "Sindone 2000" Orvieto Worldwide Congress)

Jack continues in his ongoing efforts to fill in the missing years of the Shroud's early history. Regular website viewers will know Jack from his earlier papers on this site.

C-14 Debate from the Shroud Newsgroup: alt.turin-shroud - Roger Sparks and William Meacham

This article is compiled from a series of postings that appeared on the Shroud Newsgroup, alt.turin-shroud. In it, Rodger Sparks, a carbon dating expert from New Zealand, and William Meacham, archaeologist and Shroud researcher from Hong Kong, debated some of the theories that have been proposed regarding possible inaccuracies in the 1988 test results. My thanks to them both for their kind permission in allowing me to reprint their comments here on the website.

A Chemical Investigation of the Shroud of Turin by J.H. Heller and A.D. Adler - Canadian Society of Forensic Sciences Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3, 1981, pp. 81-103.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Chemistry of Autocatalytic Processes in the Context of the Shroud of Turin, The by Ray N. Rogers  (.pdf format) [37k] [October 2002]

This article by Ray Rogers, retired pyrolysis chemist from Los Alamos National Laboratories and original member of the STURP team, is somewhat technical but very important and well worth reading. It discusses the damage to the cloth resulting from the fire of 1532 and concludes that it posed no immediate or ongoing threat to the Shroud. Reportedly, the fear of additional damage to the Shroud by autocatalysis in existing burn and scorch areas prompted the July 2002 restoration.

Chronological History of the Evidence for the Anomalous Nature of the C-14 Sample Area of the Shroud of Turin by Joseph G. Marino and Edwin J. Prior  (.pdf format) [145k] [November 2008]

This excellent summary article is co-authored by noted Shroud scholar Joseph Marino and retired NASA scientist Edwin Prior. It provides compelling, detailed evidence supporting the theory that the 1988 c-14 dating of the Turin Shroud used an anomalous sample not representative of the main Shroud cloth.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this article was first written, the authors found considerable additional information to further document the evidence supporting this theory and have compiled it into an Addendum to their original article. You can find the addendum at this link:

"ADDENDUM to Chronological History of the Evidence for the Anomalous Nature of the C-14 Sample Area of the Shroud of Turin."  (.pdf format) [74k] [January 2009]

Científicos identifican la ‘lanzada’ al cadáver que fue envuelto en la Sábana Santa y el Sudario de Oviedo - (In Spanish) - (Scientists identify the 'lance wound' in the corpse that was wrapped in the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo) by Dr. Alfonso Sánchez Hermosilla, Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM), Institute of Legal Medicine of Murcia, 31 March 2017 - Alfonso is also a scientific adviser to the International Center of Sindonología of Turin. [Editor's Note: Here is a link to an English language news story from Church Militant that describes the research in more detail: Groundbreaking Study Shows Spear Wound in Burial Shroud of Christ]. Here is an excerpt:

"Groundbreaking new research reveals the Shroud of Turin — believed to be the burial shroud of Christ — shows marks indicating a spear wound consistent with that of Our Lord depicted in the gospels. The same report also shows the Shroud of Turin and the Shroud of Oviedo were wrapped around the same man."

‘A Clean Cloth’ - What Greek Word Usage Tells Us About the Death and Burial of Jesus by Diana Fulbright  (.pdf format) [584k] [September 2005]

This paper was originally presented at the Third International Dallas Shroud Conference in September 2005. (Editor's Note: This link is to a reprint of the article from the BSTS Newsletter No. 62)

Cloning the man on the Shroud of Turin: The Media’s Hyperbole with the Double Helix by Kelly P. Kearse - Shroud of Turin Blog, November 25, 2012. [8 June 2017] Great article by a real expert. Here is the opening paragraph:

"The subject of a recent blog post about a comic book series that is now into its fifth issue, Punk Rock Jesus, involves a rather popular storyline regarding the Shroud: using DNA extracted from bloodstained threads to clone Jesus. Search on amazon.com and you will find over twenty fiction novels based on this premise; include those available exclusively as e-books and you can add about ten more. There has also been an Outer Limits television series episode, and a feature film released in 2010, “I’m not Jesus, Mommy”, centered on this idea."

Cold Acid Postmortem Blood Most Probably Formed Pinkish-Red Heme-Madder Lake on Madder-Dyed Shroud of Turin by Adrie A. M. van der Hoeven - Open Journal of Applied Sciences - Vol. 5, No. 11, November 2015. This is another in-depth, 42 page paper by Adrie and is published in an open-access journal so you can download it free. Here is the abstract:

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.

Coloured Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) contamination, mould damage, biocides and the carbon-14 dating of the Shroud of Turin by Pamela Moon [May 2013]

(Excerpt from Introduction): It is the argument of this paper that the Shroud of Turin was contaminated by water which could be, and most probably was, groundwater, floodwater or bacterially compromised holy water. Coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) commonly found in contaminated water sources and the consequences of the introduction of the dissolved matter, could affect the carbon-14 dating.

Colouring fabrics with Excimer lasers to simulate encoded images: the case of the Shroud of Turin by P. Di Lazzaro, G. Baldacchini, G. Fanti, D. Murra and A. Santoni

This article is from the Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering, 2008 (No issue # available) (Abstract Only) and its availability online just came to my attention in 2010.

Combining Environmental Factors and Historical Climate Data with Gospel Writings to Estimate Transpirable Time from Death on the Cross to the Resurrection by William Lauto - Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum Science and Faith Institute - September 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"Ascertaining a realistic estimate for the amount of time that transpired between Jesus' death on the cross to the moment of His resurrection can only be theorized by reviewing data from multiple disciplines in order to encompass a complete picture. To accomplish as much of a complete picture as possible, we must view aspects from both science and faith. Omitting one or the other would only prevent any realistic estimate from being established…" [Editor's Note: The author is an environmental scientist. This is the final paper he submitted for the course on the Shroud of Turin he completed at the university].

A Commentary on the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin by Joseph Accetta - Academia.edu - November 21, 2019 [7 November 2020] - Here is the introduction:

“The cornerstone of any authenticity argument regarding the Shroud of Turin is its age. If it is 2000 years old then it is almost entirely inexplicable from a man-made process point of view and everyone, me included, might just as well call it a miracle and go home. Asserting that it is 2000 years old and then further asserting some physical mechanism for its creation by a dead body within a tomb requires the positing of heretofore unknown physics and that, saying it very politely, is a most challenging proposition. Such claims do not bode well for the reputation of Shroud science in general and those who regard themselves as Shroud scientists should be wary of their long term effects. Given these appeals to non-existent physics, it should relatively easy to explain the resurrection of Lazarus as well.”

Commentary: The Shroud and STRP by Joseph S. Accetta – Academia.edu – January 13, 2015 [8 May 2022] – Article by former STURP team member. Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“The Shroud of Turin is an unusual perhaps singular object. There appears to be with nothing else like it anywhere. That presented certain problems immediately because there are no existing paradigms for which to structure some line of investigation. For example, if we were archeologists looking at a new tomb discovery we probably would have had a pretty good idea of where to start. On the hand it appeared to be a rather large piece of medieval linen with the frontal and dorsal images of a man who had undergone injuries resembling the scriptural description of the Roman crucifixion. Many believe this cloth to be the burial shroud of Christ and others, a cleverly contrived hoax. In spite of its emotional and religious content some see it as worthy of a serious scientific examination…”

Comments About the Recent Experiment of Professor Luigi Garlaschelli by Thibault Heimburger, M.D. (.pdf format) [516k] (Includes 12 color photomicrographs and illustrations) [November 2009]

On October 6, 2009, Italian Prof. Luigi Garlaschelli issued a press release to the Reuters News Service, announcing he had "reproduced" the Shroud image using medieval technologies, thus proving it a fake. For this article, Thibault consulted directly with Professor Garlaschelli and provides a detailed overview of his techniques, along with a point by point comparison between Garlaschelli's results and the image on the Shroud.

Comments On Shroud Research by Donald Lynn  (.pdf format) [7k] (From The Dallas Meeting of American Sindonology)

Don's presentation shared his thoughts on Shroud research and the future.

Comments on the analysis interpretation by Rogers and Latendresse regarding samples coming from the Shroud of Turin by Marco Bella, Luigi Garlaschelli, Roberto Samperia. Thermochimica Acta, Volume 632, 20 May 2016, Pages 52–55. Abstract and Highlights available free. Article behind pay wall. Here is the abstract:

"The presence of a “invisible mending” has been proposed as an explanation for medieval radiocarbon dating measurements made on the Shroud of Turin. Here we show that the chemical analysis which was to support this theory is not consistent, and no scientific data confirm these speculations. Specifically, the samples of the Shroud image fibers underwent a different cleaning procedure with regards to those allegedly belonging to the medieval mending. There is no reliable indication of the supposedly diagnostic compounds (e.g. gum Arabic, pentoses). The only detectable difference between the samples is the presence of a compound with an aliphatic chain which cannot be identified more in detail, e.g. as sebum."

Comments on the mass spectrometry analysis of a sample of the Shroud of Turin by Bella et al. by Mario Latendresse - Science Direct, Thermochimica Acta Volume 624, 20 January 2016, Pages 55-58. Mario has written an interesting rebuttal to the editorial, but check and download it quickly. It will go behind a pay wall after February 12, 2016. Here is a key excerpt from the abstract:

"...The main conclusion of Bella et al. was 'No diagnostic peak in the pyrolysis mass spectra indicates a significant difference in the two samples, besides hydrocarbon-derived contamination. Therefore, none of the presented data supports the conclusion by Rogers.' We show that the technical analysis of Bella et al. of the mass spectra is incorrect and that their main conclusion is unconfirmed, in particular that a 'contaminant' would be present on the second sample analyzed."

The above is a rebuttal to the following editorial that was published in Thermochimica Acta 10 October 2015: [Abstract only]

There is no mass spectrometry evidence that the C14 sample from the Shroud of Turin comes from a “medieval invisible mending” by Marco Bella, Luigi Garlaschelli, Roberto Samperia - Science Direct, Thermochimica Acta Volume 617, 10 October 2015, Pages 169–171 - Abstract only. [1 November 2015] Here is the abstract:

This is an editorial regarding a paper published on Thermochimica Acta (R.N. Rogers, Thermochimca Acta, 425 (2005) 189–194). A close-up analysis of the pyrolysis-mass spectra reported in the original paper reveals that the differences found between the samples coming from different parts of the Shroud are just due to the presence of a contaminant with a long aliphatic chain. Except for the presence of the contaminant, the two pyrolysis-mass spectra look alike rather than different. Therefore, the pseudoscientific theory stating that the C14 sample might come from a “medieval invisible mending” remains unsupported by evidences.

Comments on 'The Resurrection of the Shroud' by Mark Antonacci by Ray Rogers  (.pdf format) [119k] (English)

This article by Ray Rogers, one of the original members of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) and a retired chemist from Los Alamos National Laboratories, reviews the book titled, "The Resurrection of the Shroud" by St. Louis attorney, Mark Antonacci.

Click here to read Mark Antonacci's Reply To Ray Rogers' Review of His Book

Common Claims Made Against the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – March 25, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“Ever since the Shroud of Turin, believed by many over the centuries to be the actual burial cloth in which Jesus was buried, officially entered history in France in the mid-1350s, there were skeptics who claimed it was a forgery. That’s not unreasonable, given that it was over 1,300 years since Jesus’ death, and if it were authentic, there was no clear record of its whereabouts back to the 1st century AD. That claim, along with the supposedly “95% confidence” factor of the 1988 C-14 dating of the Shroud to 1260-1390, makes skeptics feel confident that the Shroud is simply a medieval forgery…”

Comparison among the Shroud body image formation mechanisms by the linen fibrils distributions by G. Fazio, V. De Leo, F. Curciarello and G. Mandaglio

This article was published in The Journal of The Textile Institute, June 2014.

Comparisons Among c. 1260 and Later Depictions of Jesus' Crucifixion/Burial and the Shroud of Turin by Joe Marino - Academia.edu - January 6, 2022 - [21 JAN 2022] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"As most people are aware, the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial cloth that wrapped the historical Jesus, was carbon-dated in 1988 by three labs to A.D. or CE 1260-1390. If the dates are accurate, it could not be the authentic burial cloth of Jesus, who lived in the first century A.D./CE. However, many researchers and scientists believe that the results of those tests do not accurately reflect the true age of the cloth…"

A Comparison between the Face of the Veil of Manoppello and the Face of the Shroud of Turin by Liberato De Caro, Emilio Matricciani, Giulio Fanti, Researchgate, January 2019.

Here is the abstract: "Recently we have studied the unusual optical properties of the Veil of Manoppello, a canvas representing the face of Jesus Christ, and restored digitally the face, by eliminating the distortions of the anatomic details due the yielding of the very fine structure of the fabric. The aim of the present paper is to compare the restored face of the Veil with that visible on the Turin Shroud. In particular, the paper focuses on assessing whether the two images can be superimposed, i.e., whether they are different images of the same face. Indeed, some scholars have suggested that the Veil of Manoppello and the Turin Shroud show different images of the same face. We demonstrate that the face of the Turin Shroud, after a logarithmic transformation of the intensity and the correction of the background noise, shows cheeks’ profiles, not visible before the digital processing, which overlap very well with those of the restored face of the Veil of Manoppello. These correlations between the two images of the face of Jesus raise the question of their historical relationship."

Comparison of the Burial of Lazarus to the Burial of Jesus with Reference to the Shroud of Turin by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – March 28, 2022 – Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“Even those with a cursory knowledge of Bible stories have heard the story of Jesus having raised his friend Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-43). This story gives us a few solid details regarding a Jewish burial in the first century with which to compare to Jesus' own burial. But let's be clear at the outset: trying to uncover how 1st-century Jewish burials were done is no easy task. The late Jewish scholar Rachel Hachlili authored a work of over six-hundred pages titled ‘Jewish Funerary Customs Practices and Rites in the Second Temple Period.’ (Brill Academic Publishers) 2021…”

Comparitive Study of the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Shroud of Turin by G. Heras and D. Villalain  (.pdf format) [69k] (English)

Estudio comparativo entre al Sudario de Oviedo y la Sindone de Turin by G. Heras and D. Villalain (.pdf format) [78k] (Spanish)

These papers were originally presented at the 1998 Turin Symposium and are available in both English and Spanish versions.

A Comprehensive Examination of the Various Stains and Images on the Shroud of Turin by E.J. Jumper, A.D. Adler, J.P. Jackson, S.F. Pellicori, J.H. Heller and J.R. Drusik - Archaeological Chemistry III, ACS Advances in Chemistry No. 205, J.B. Lambert, Editor, Chapter 22, American Chemical Society, Washington D.C., 1984, pp. 447-476.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Computerized Anthropometric Analysis of the Man of the Turin Shroud by Prof. ssa Emanuela Marinelli- Co-authored with Alessandro Cagnazzo and Prof. Giulio Fanti  (.pdf format) [222k] (From the 1999 Richmond Conference)

This is an important paper that includes anthropometric measurements of the body image on the Shroud and compares the results to known body types.

Concept of Negativity Through the Ages, The vs. The Negative Image on the Shroud by Isabel Piczek

This paper was first presented at the May 1997 Nice Symposium in Nice, France and can also be reached via the "Shroud Conferences & Symposia" page of this website. It gives Isabel Piczek's unique perspective on this important aspect of Shroud research and is profusely illustrated, as all Isabel's presentations are. Isabel is a noted monumental artist and physicist and a well respected Shroud researcher. It may take a few minutes to fully download the article with its many illustrations, but it is well worth the wait.

Concerning the Side Strip on the Shroud of Turin by Alan D. Adler and Alan & Mary Whanger

This paper concludes that the samples used to carbon date the Shroud in 1988 may have been taken from a part of the cloth that was rewoven in medieval times. This paper was first presented at the May 1997 Nice Symposium in Nice, France and can also be reached via the "Shroud Conferences & Symposia" page of this website. It includes three highly magnified x-rays made during the 1978 examination to illustrate its hypothesis. Dr. Adler is an internationally known and well respected Shroud researcher and worked with the late Dr. John Heller in 1979 to complete the chemical analysis that proved the bloodstains on the Shroud were actually blood. He is currently an advisor to the Archbishop of Turin regarding future conservation efforts of the cloth. Alan and Mary Whanger are noted Shroud researchers that have done extensive studies regarding secondary images on the Shroud and were participants in the recently announced discovery of flower images on the cloth.

Conservation of the Shroud of Turin by Alan D. Adler and Larry A. Schwalbe

A realistic evaluation of the conservation problems that must be confronted and resolved in order to preserve the Shroud of Turin and its unique image. Alan Adler, Professor of Chemistry at Western Connecticut State University, is a well known and respected Shroud researcher who worked with the late John Heller in evaluating the blood stains on the Shroud. Both he, and Larry Schwalbe of Los Alamos Laboratories, were original team members of STURP. You will find references to more of their published Shroud papers on the "1978 Scientific Examination" page of this website, in the Bibliography of STURP's Published Papers. This article is reprinted courtesy of Dorothy Crispino, Publisher and Editor of Shroud Spectrum International, the first refereed scientific journal dedicated exclusively to Shroud of Turin research.

Conservation of the Shroud of Turin: Optical Studies, The by Paolo Di Lazzaro, Daniele Murra, Antonino Santoni, Enrico Nichelatti - ENEA Report 2012. [21 January 2013]

Abstract: The ancient linen cloth of the Shroud of Turin is one of the archaeological objects most studied in history, mainly because of the unexplained nature of its image. We have recently irradiated linen fabrics by excimer laser pulses obtaining a Shroud-like coloration, and have recognized photo-chemical processes that may have played a role in the formation of the image embedded into the Shroud. Our results suggest some actions aimed at a long-term conservation of the Shroud and its image.

Consideration to the Uniformity and Effects of the Fabric in the Shroud of Turin by Donna Campbell, M.A., Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen - published by Pam Moon on her Shroud of Turin Exhibition website in September 2014 [5 October 2014]

Pam Moon contacted Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen, a world renowned textile firm (also once employed by Benford and Marino*), and asked them to evaluate the Shroud textile using photographs of the Oxford radiocarbon samples. In her comments regarding mending Campbell concludes, "...there are signs in the Shroud sample that direct the notion of mending or reweaving of the actual woven fabric."

Correlation of Image Intensity on the Turin Shroud with the 3-D Structure of a Human Body Shape by J.P. Jackson, E.J. Jumper and W.R. Ercoline - Applied Optics, Vol. 23, No. 14, 1984, pp. 2244-2270.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Cotton In Raes/Radiocarbon Threads: The Example of Raes #7 by Thibault Heimburger (.pdf format) [234k], [601k], [417k] [May 2009]

This latest article from Thibault, dedicated to the memory of Sue Benford, is based on his careful analysis of the Raes #7 sample which was provided to him at 2008's Ohio Shroud Conference. His results add further confirmation to the observations and conclusions made by Benford & Marino, Ray Rogers, John Brown, Robert Villarreal and others. As it includes many color photomicrographs, it is broken into three parts to keep the individual files sizes (and consequently, download times) to a minimum. You will find a link at the end of each part of the article that allows you to continue to the next part.

Could an anomaly in Turin Shroud blood reopen the 1988-radiocarbon-dating result? By Giulio Fanti – WSN (World Scientific News) 162 (2021) 102-119 – October 10, 2021. [22 November 2021]

Here is an excerpt from the Abstract: “This work proposes an explanation for a blood anomaly found in the Turin Shroud (TS). Unlike common human blood which contains significant levels of nitrogen (weight percentages of the order of 10%), TS blood shows levels of nitrogen which are lower than the background noise produced by the measuring instrument (about 1%). It is not easy to find an explanation for this result, but if we refer to the hypothesis formulated by T.J. Phillips who first proposed that neutron radiation had acted on the TS and therefore on the blood analyzed, it is possible to qualitatively understand what may have altered the observed nitrogen levels...” [Editor’s Note: Although STERA, Inc. appreciates being mentioned in the Acknowledgements of this paper, the following disclaimer states our official position: “STERA, Inc., is not now nor has it ever been directly involved in the research conducted on the samples we provided to Giulio Fanti, nor do we necessarily agree with the conclusions he has drawn based on those samples. Inclusion of these papers on Shroud.com does not constitute an endorsement by either the Editor or the STERA, Inc. Board of Directors of the methods used or the conclusions drawn by the authors.”]

Could the Shroud of Turin be an effect of post-mortem changes? by Lucia Tattoli, Michael Tsokos, Claas Buschmann

This paper was published in the February 2014 issue of Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology and bases its theories on an actual forensic case in which a dead body left an imprint on the floor. The authors propose this might be a parallel to the image on the Shroud of Turin. The first two pages of the article can be previewed at the above link but the complete text is behind a pay wall.

Could the Turin Shroud Body Image Formation be Explained by Maillard Reaction? by Giovanni Fazio and Giuseppe Mandaglio - Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 21, No 1, (2021), pp. 177-181. [21 January 2021] Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"...This study is an attempt to analyze the Rogers' hypothesis: a Maillard reaction between amines (nitrogen compound with a free -NH2 group), coming through the corpse wrapped in the Linen of Turin and reduced sugars, due to the manufacturing procedure, present on the surface of the above linen cloth. Therefore, as it has already affirmed, we have two different visions. However, we must take also into account that the second one hypothesis needs, at same time, the presence of amines and the absence of aromas and/or burial ointments. The aim of this our study is to see if the above hypothesis (the one of Rogers with Arnoldi) is able to yield on the linen a color distribution characterized by a I(z) correlation between the intensity of color and the cloth-body distance, as it occurs to the Shroud of Turin."

Could the VUV Radiation Yield the Shroud Body Image? by Giovanni Fazio - Global Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology - September 13, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "We investigate the Vacuum UV radiation with the aim to understand if a radiative mechanism is able to produce the Shroud Body Image. The ENEA team showed that a radiation (with y = 193 nm) penetrated the linen fibrils for about 200 nm (the primary cell wall) as it is for the Shroud. The inner part remained colorless. With the same radiation, the above scientists obtained a latent Shroud-like coloring with the right hue…"

Criteria for Evaluating Image Formation Hypotheses for the Shroud of Turin by Robert A. Rucker (January 18, 2024). Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain how the front and dorsal images of a crucified man were formed on the Shroud of Turin. This paper recommends criteria for judging the merits of a particular image formation hypothesis regarding whether it could be true. Criteria include: 1) the hypothesis must be consistent with all the scientific evidence that is true about the images, 2) the hypothesis should make predictions that are testable, falsifiable, and possibly unique, and 3) the hypothesis is preferred if it explains multiple aspects of the Shroud, is simple rather than complex, or is recognized as having 'beauty'.

A Critical Summary of Observations, Data and Hypotheses - Version 3.0 by Bob Siefker, Keith Propp, Dave Fornof, Ares Koumis, Rebecca Jackson and John Jackson - Updated October 22, 2015 [1 November 2015]

This is the latest version of the Critical Summary paper that is produced and updated by the researchers at the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado under the guidance of Dr. John Jackson, co-founder of the STURP team. Note that it replaces the previous version.

Crucifixion in the Ancient World: A Historical Analysis by Gary Habermas and Benjamin C. F. Shaw – Liberty University Eleutheria Volume 5, Issue 1, Article 3 – May 14, 2021. [22 November 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“In 1977 Martin Hengel wrote his incredible work Crucifixion which has become a classic work on the subject in just under 100 pages.1. Hengel gave the honor of revising this small book to John Granger Cook, who quickly realized that “it would be advisable to write my own monograph” (vii). 2. This is understandable given the depth at which Cook plunges into the topic and the breadth of his research. While Hengel’s work will remain the concise classic, it was Hengel’s hope that Cook’s book will be “valid for the next 100 years” (xxxi). 3 Undoubtedly this is a great scholarly weight to have upon one’s shoulders!”

Crucifixion of Jesus, The: review of hypothesized mechanisms of death and implications of shock and trauma-induced coagulopathy by Joseph W. Bergeron, M.D. [July 2011]

This article was was accepted for publication in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine in July 2011. Joe has also created a website, Cause of Jesus' Death, to go with the article

Dating and Formation of the Shroud by Peter Carr (.pdf format) [73k]

The author logically weighs and carefully evaluates the evidence for the Shroud's authenticity from his perspective as a scientist who spent many years in charge of technical laboratories carrying out research and development. This is the first time it has appeared in print.

The Dating of the Shroud of Turin from Coins of Pontius Pilate by Francis L. Filas, S.J. - 2nd Edition, Updated to June 1982. [1 November 2015]

Although not widely accepted, this theory is nonetheless a part of Shroud research and has been referenced by a number of Shroud authors, so we thought it important to archive it on Shroud.com.

Debunking The Shroud: Made by Human Hands by Gary Vikan

This article appeared in the November/December 1998 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review and includes a sidebar titled, The Shroud Painting Explained by Walter C. McCrone. The controversial article spawned a wide gamut of responses from the magazine's readers, which were printed in their Letters to the Editor column in a later issue. These are included following the article. A number of other responses were submitted to BAR that were not published, probably due to their length. These included an in-depth collaborative response titled, Deconstructing the "Debunking" of the Shroud, authored by Prof. Dan Scavone, Prof. Karlheinz Dietz, John Markwardt, Mario Latendresse, Rev. Albert Dreisbach, Mark Guscin, Joseph Marino, Emanuela Marinelli and Gino Zaninotto and a separate response titled, Comments on the Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud by Dr. Stephen Mattingly. These are published here for the first time. Just added is a previously unpublished personal letter from noted Shroud researcher, Dr. Alan Whanger to Mr. Hershel Shanks, Editor of BAR, responding to the Vikan article.

Deep Ultraviolet Radiation Simulates the Turin Shroud Image by Paolo Di Lazzaro, Daniele Murra, Antonino Santoni and Giulio Fanti

This article appeared in the Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, [July/August 2010] Volume 54, Issue 4, pp. 040302-(6) (Abstract Only)

Describing, Step by Step, the Shroud Body Image Formation by Giovanni Fazio, Giuseppe Mandaglio and Antonio Anastasi, Heritage, December 22, 2018 - MDPI Open Access Journals [6 November 2019]

Here is a brief excerpt from the abstract: "In the recent past, we introduced a natural mechanism (stochastic) in the literature to explain the image formation on the Linen of Turin by taking into account the yellowed linen fibrils distribution of the Shroud. In our opinion, a weak energy source like the thermal radiation produced by the enveloped corpse yielded on the linen a latent image, ruled by a stochastic process, and made by small bundles of yellowed fibrils..."

The Desire for Total Darkness by Emanuela Marinelli - Academia.edu - December 10, 2021 - [21 JAN 2022] This is an in-depth review of Andrea Nicolotti's recent book, "The Shroud of Turin - The History and Legends of the World's Most Famous Relic." Nicolotti is an associate professor of the Department of Historical Studies of the University of Turin and perhaps Italy's most well-known Shroud skeptic. Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"In the darkness of the ancient centuries, some lights come on here and there to illuminate Turin Shroud's troubled path. The historian's task is to look for these torches and to reconstruct, through them, a likely path… Everything suggests a wide-ranging, complete, documented and objective work. Anyone who has already read other books by Nicolotti knows, however, his destructive attitude: his interpretation of the sources is always contrary to the authenticity of the Shroud and the denial of any possibility that the relic is the funeral sheet of Christ is continually repeated. He is anxious to turn off any light, so that the darkness could be total…"

Detailed Critical Review of the Chemical Studies on the Turin Shroud, A: Facts and Interpretations by Thibault Heimburger, M.D. (.pdf format) [569k] [January 2008]

This paper offers a detailed synthesis of all the data gathered and the scientific testing performed by John Heller and Alan Adler compared side by side with the analysis performed by Walter McCrone on tape samples taken from the Shroud of Turin in 1978 by the STURP team. It directly addresses the two major questions posed by the researchers: 1) Is the Shroud of Turin a painting? and 2) Is the blood really blood? Thibault's direct comparison includes an evaluation of the effectiveness of the techniques and procedures used for the analysis by all the researchers, their validity for the type of samples being tested, the quality (and credibility) of their respective conclusions and much more. Thibault gets technical, but does so in the simplest and most direct terms. This paper will help the reader fully understand the significance of Heller and Adler's work, recognize the flaws in McCrone's techniques and conclusions and gain a clear, credible, scientific answer to both questions.

Did Geoffroy I de Charny Obtain the Present Turin Shroud on the Smyrna Campaign of 1346 by Prof. Daniel Scavone [2005] - Italian language translation by Fabio Quadrini.

In this paper, Dan revisits the theories about the first documented owner of the Shroud, Geoffroy 1 de Charny, and where he might have acquired the relic. In several areas, he disagrees with other Shroud historians on certain aspects of the de Charny theories and makes a valid case for his conclusions.

Did Jesus Die by Suffocation? An Appraisal of the Evidence by Thomas W. McGovern, MD - David A. Kaminskas, MD - Eustace S. Fernandes, MD - The Linacre Quarterly, 2022, Vol. 0(0) 1-16 - Catholic Medical Association [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "A majority of medical and lay articles regarding crucifixion, and specifically the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, now state that suffocation was the primary cause of death from crucifixion. An in-depth analysis reveals that this theory is based on a form of torture unrelated to crucifixion and that no evidence directly linking suffocation to crucifixion has been published. Indeed, a thorough review of available ancient evidence from literature, artwork, graffiti, and modern archeology and re-enactment studies reveals no evidence in favor of suffocation and much evidence against suffocation as the cause of death in typically-portrayed crucifixions, and particularly for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ…"

Digital colorimetric analysis of the Turin Shroud by Christian Privitera - EDP Sciences, 2015. [30 June 2021]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "By using the data collected in previous colorimetric studies, a quantitative digital image with ± 4% uncertainty relative to the color values, has been made. This goal was achieved by colors correction of a digitalized photograph performed through comparison with some published measurements in CIE XYZ color space. Starting from that image construction, a simply color measurement method was performed by using a common photographic software, and consequently allowing the construction of a colorimetric database of the main observable details of the Turin Shroud…"

The Disappearance of Jesus' Body, Part 2: Physical Considerations by Robert A. Rucker - Academia.edu - June 28, 2016. [19 September 2016]

This is an analysis of the physical/scientific pros and cons of seven different proposed options for how the body could have disappeared from within the Shroud. This is a more extensive analysis than anything that I have seen before. Of particular interest is a cute fictional story of Mr. Dotman in Lineland starting on page 13. (Comments by the author).

Discoloration Range and Shroud Image Depth Values Cannot Be Satisfied by the Same Proton Energy by Giovanni Fazio - Open Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol.13 No.8, August 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"The radiative hypothesis has been revisited showing other characteristics, produced by the protons used as dyes in total disagree with the ones of the Body Image that appears on the Shroud of Turin. Our investigations highlight that for the protons to reach 3.7 cm in air, the distance that measures the range of discoloration effects, must be emitted with an energy of about 1.5 MeV using Wilson and Brobeck's empirical formula and 1.35 MeV using Bethe's… Thus, also the possible I(z) correlation, between color intensity and body-sheet distance, which should be due to the oxidizing action of protons, does not agree with that extracted from the Shroud of Turin."

Discrepancies in the radiocarbon dating area of the Turin shroud by M. Sue Benford and Joseph G. Marino

This article originally appeared in the journal Chemistry Today, vol 26 n 4, July-August 2008 but just became available in its entirety on the internet in 2010. (Full Paper Available)

DNA on the Shroud of Turin: Distinguishing endogenous versus exogenous DNA by Kelly P. Kearse [21 January 2013]

Here is the full Abstract for this paper: "In the late 1990s it was reported that human DNA existed on the Shroud of Turin, and although in a generally degraded state, certain regions were sufficiently intact to clone and sequence three genes from bloodstained fibers: human betaglobin, amelogenin X and amelogenin Y. An unknown variable in such studies is the extent of contamination by exogenous DNA, transferred to the Shroud by persons or objects that have come in contact with cloth. Indeed, the abovementioned genes are not exclusive to blood cells, but are also found within other cell types, including skin cells. Here, a simple experimental approach is described for distinguishing endogenous versus exogenous DNA, which may help establish that DNA in the blood areas of the Shroud of Turin originated from white blood cells (lymphocytes) present on the cloth."

DNA Analysis and the Shroud of Turin: Development of a Shroud CODIS by Kelly P. Kearse [21 January 2014] - Linceul de Turin et génétique: établir le profil ADN du Linceul - En français (French translation by Renaud Joseph) [23 November 2016]

This is Kelly's fourth paper on our site and once again, he has taken a very technical subject and made it interesting and understandable for everyone. In this article he clearly explains how the latest refinements in DNA analyses could be applied to the Shroud.

Dr. Stephen Lukasik and his Role in the Ill-fated C-14 Dating Proposal by the Shroud of Turin Research Project by Joe Marino - Academia.edu - July 21, 2023 - Here is the introduction:

"The late Dr. Stephen Lukasik, a physicist with a very impressive resume, was not an original member of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), which studied the Shroud directly for five straight days in 1978. STURP, after their 1981 final report regarding the 1978 examination, hoped to take part in follow up multi-disciplinary testing, including C-14 dating. Dr. Lukasik was recruited to coordinate STURP's proposals. However, Church authorities did not grant STURP permission to be involved in the subsequent testing in 1988, which was limited to only a C-14 test. During Lukasik's STURP involvement, he wrote a book, of which only a few copies were produced. This article highlights significant portions of the book."

Dr. Walter McCrone's Research on the Shroud of Turin Under a Microscope by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - October 12, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the introduction to the article: "This article examines the work on the Shroud of Turin by the late microscopist Dr. Walter C. McCrone. Some scientists and other researchers found his competence and integrity suspect. The repercussions of the various facts and opinions gathered about McCrone are considered."

Documented References to the Burial Linens of Jesus Prior to the Shroud of Turin's Appearance in France in the Mid-1350s by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – April 7, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“One of the most common claims by those skeptical of the authenticity of the Turin Shroud, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus, is that there are no references in history to Jesus’ burial shroud before it surfaced in Lirey, France about the mid-1350s. On the contrary, the Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud), as it is known today, was only called that starting in 1578, when the cloth was brought to Turin, where it has been ever since, apart from a few years during World War II, when it was moved from Turin to protect it from Adolf Hitler. That claim, along with the supposedly “95% confidence” factor of the 1988 C-14 dating of the Shroud to 1260-1390, makes skeptics feel confident that the Shroud is simply a medieval forgery…”

Does the Long Hair on the Man of the Shroud Prove the Cloth could not have Wrapped Jesus? by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - December 13, 2022 [21 JAN 2023] - Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"One of the common objections against the Shroud of Turin being the authentic burial cloth of Jesus is that 1 Cor 11:14 says, "Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him." Of course, "long" is a relative term, but most people feel comfortable asserting that the hair length seen on the man of the Shroud is "long." It seems black and white enough, even with a relative term, but very few things in biblical exegesis are cut and dried…"

Does the Turin Shroud Accord with the Milieu of Roman Rule in Judea? By Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - June 23, 2022 [31 August 2022]

Here is the online description: "The Shroud of Turin is believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. If it is, it should correlate to known historical information pertaining to the Roman occupation of Judea in the First Century. Evidence on the Shroud is presented from textile technology, Jewish burial customs and Roman crucifixion that is compatible with the Roman execution of Jesus as described in the gospels."

Do gold particles from the Turin Shroud indicate its presence in the Middle East during the Byzantine Empire? by Giulio Fanti and Claudio Furlan, Journal of Cultural Heritage, August 8, 2019 - Elsevier - Science Direct [6 November 2019]

This paper presents new claims by Giulio Fanti based on the dusts vacuumed from between the Shroud and Holland Cloth in 1978. Here is a brief excerpt from the abstract: "The following question arose from analysis of dust vacuumed from the Shroud: do these particles show any connection with the gold that could have polluted the linen fabric in past centuries?"

Doubts Concerning the Coins Over the Eyes by Antonio Lombatti

This article originally appeared in the "Letters To The Editor" section of the June/July 1997 issue (#45) of the British Society for the Turin Shroud (BSTS) Newsletter and is available via the "British Society for the Turin Shroud" page of this website. It sparked a lively e-mail debate amongst Shroud researchers, which, through the courtesy of all the participants, is reprinted following the article.

Do we really need new medical information about the Turin Shroud? by M. Bevilacqua, G. Fanti, M. D’Arienzo and R. De Caro

In Press - Injury, 2013, published by Elsevier [Dec 2013]

Duplicità del volto Sindonico  by Giovanni Imbalzano

This paper was originally presented at the 1998 Turin Symposium. The link is to the author's website where you will find the Italian text of this and his other Shroud-related works.

The Dusts of the Holy Shroud of Turin - Progress Report on the Work of the Turin Section of STURP by Giovanni Riggi - October 9, 1981 - New London, Connecticut - (Previously unpublished) [30 Sept 2021] - Here is an excerpt from the opening section titled "Work on the Holy Shroud." [Editor's Note: This was written by Riggi long before online internet translation services became available and English was not Riggi's first language, so you may find the language somewhat awkward in places].

"On October 9th 1978 at night I drew by hand and by forced suction, particles and dusts from the front and the back side of the linen cloth of the Shroud. All the samples from the back were obtained by suction, and after separating to some extent the Shroud from the supporting cloth. The separation of the two sheets was carried out by making clippings of the threads along their perimeter and by cutting some stitches in central areas in such a way to allow the introduction of special tools to keep the cloth layers apart, from suction pipes and an optical fibre device for taking pictures of the back..."

The Earliest Pilgrim Badges Produced for the So-Called ‘Shroud of Turin' by Ian Wilson - Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture, 7, 3 (2021): 174-211 - May 1, 2021. Here is an excerpt from the article:

"...As far back as the 14th century, two high-level French ecclesiastics claimed the Shroud to be a forgery and in 1988 these allegations seemed proven when a carbon dating test ‘conclusively’ dated its fabric to between 1260 and 1390. The last four decades of this period coincided with the Shroud’s earliest known public showings in France, and this study focuses on the only two known examples of Shroud souvenir badges which date from this period: the first a badge proper, and the second a recently-discovered mold from which a badge of slightly different design would have been cast. It will be shown that the badge proper dates more than three decades later than has previously been supposed, whilst the badge represented by the mold was the one which was created for the earliest known showings..."

An early first-century earthquake in the Dead Sea by Jefferson B. Williams, et al.

This article was published in 2011 in International Geology Review 54(10): 1219-1228. The article examines a report in the 27th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament that an earthquake was felt in Jerusalem on the day of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.[7 June 2014]

Earthquake Theory Comments by Jeff Williams by Jefferson B. Williams

Comments to www.shroud.com dated February 13, 2014 from the author, a geologist who has done extensive research in the Dead Sea (including taking and analyzing countless core samples of the sea bottom sediments). [7 June 2014]

The Effect of Humidity on Blood Serum Pattern Formation and Blood Transfer by Kelly Kearse - Journal of Forensic Science and Research, Volume 7 pp. 40-48 - August 28, 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"A detailed knowledge of the drying properties of blood is important for a more complete understanding of the forensic information that may exist at a crime location. Although the effect of relative humidity on the general properties of blood drying has been evaluated, relatively little information exists regarding the alterations of blood serum distribution that may occur during the drying process. Moreover, the influence of humidity on the ability of dried blood drops to transfer from skin to absorbent material has never been studied."

Effects of Contextual Information on Seeing Pareidolic Religious Inscriptions on an Artifact: Implications for the Shroud of Turin by Mercedes Sheen and Timothy R. Jordan - Perception, September 30, 2015. (Abstract only) [1 November 2015] Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"Several reports suggest that images of the Shroud of Turin contain faint religious inscriptions that support the view that the Shroud has special religious significance. Against this background, we investigated effects of contextual information on detecting religious inscriptions using an image of plain modern linen with no religious provenance and containing no writing. The image was viewed in three contexts: In the Neutral Context, participants were told that the image was of a simple piece of linen; in the Religious Context, participants were told that the image was of an important religious artifact; and in the Religious ContextþOptions condition, participants were also given plausible word options..."

Effects of Contextual Information on Seeing Pareidolic Religious Inscriptions on an Artifact: Implications for the Shroud of Turin - Perception, September 30, 2015. (Full paper now available on Academia.edu) [8 October 2018]
Electronic Archiving and Distribution: The Value of the Internet and CD-ROM Technology  by Barrie M. Schwortz (.pdf format) [22k] (From The 1998 Dallas Meeting of American Sindonology) - Almacenamiento y Distribución Electrónica: El Valor de Internet y de la Tecnología en CD-ROM (En Español)

This presentation started with an overview of the Shroud of Turin Website for those who had never seen it. Using a computer video projector (courtesy of Russell Breault), I was able to project the image directly from my laptop computer to a large screen. I demonstrated many of the website's features, including the use of the "Shroud Library" page to navigate the website. I was also very proud to demonstrate, for the first time ever in public, "The Virtual VP-8" Segment from the Shroud of Turin CD-ROM. This is the most dynamic and interactive portion of the disc, and allows each viewer the opportunity to manipulate the 3-D characteristics of the Shroud image. This moment was made even more exceptional for me when I discovered that Peter Schumacher, an expert on the VP-8 Image Analyzer, was in the room!

El hombre de la Sábana Santa Certezas y líneas de investigación (The man of the Shroud Certainties and lines of investigation) by Paolo Di Lazzaro – Spanish language PowerPoint presentation by invitation at the IV International Congress of Brothers and Brotherhoods, Malaga, September 2021. [22 November 2021]
Empirical evidence that the blood on the Shroud of Turin is of human origin: Is the current data sufficient? by Kelly P. Kearse [21 January 2013]

Here is an excerpt from the Abstract: "Previous studies have established that the blood areas on the Shroud of Turin consist of real blood and are not composed of artistic pigments. It is commonly reported that the blood is of human origin, but just how substantial is the evidence to support this conclusion? Here, the empirical evidence for the human origin of the Turin Shroud bloodstains is evaluated.... The potential usefulness of additional testing methods, many developed since the original studies were performed approximately thirty years ago, is also discussed."

The Enigma Of Manoppello Finally Unveiled? by Pierre de Riedmatten - Montre Nous Ton Visage (MNTV) - Les Cahiers sur le Linceul (The Notebooks on the Shroud) No. 68, December 2022. [21 JAN 2023] This is an English language online translation of the original French language article. The author graciously gave us permission to publish both language versions here on Shroud.com. Here is the introduction:

"Despite the fervor of which it is still the object, the Veil of Manoppello has raised many questions for decades. Based on the most recent historical 2and scientific studies3, Pierre de Riedmatten, who has already written on this subject for MNTV4, presents here the hypothesis according to which this astonishing image is in fact a painting, made "very probably" by Albrecht Dürer at the beginning of the 16th century." Here is a link to the French language version of this article: L'enigme De Manoppello Enfin Devoilee? This is a link to the Montre Nous Ton Visage (MNTV) website where newer issues are available for purchase and older issues are available for free.

Environmental influence on blood serum detection using ultraviolet 365 by Kelly Kearse - Journal of Forensic Science and Research, 2021; 5: 030-036 - March 26, 2021. [30 June 2021]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "The major use of alternative light sources (ALS) in the evaluation of bloodstains has been primarily focused on detection of whole blood, with relatively little attention to visualization of blood serum. Serum may become separated from blood pools during clotting, and because it is relatively invisible on certain backgrounds, go undetected by a perpetrator attempting to clean up a crime scene. Recently, Ultraviolet 365 (UV 365) was shown to be an effective tool in blood evaluation, useful for detection of even minute quantities of blood serum. Here the effects of environmental conditions on blood serum stain appearance were evaluated, including temperature, pH, protease sensitivity, solubility, and aging…"

Environmental Study of the Shroud in Jerusalem Field and Laboratory Report by Dr. Eugenia Nitowski - 1986 [21 January 2019]

As far as I can tell, Dr. Nitowski never submitted this important work for publication but only made printed, hand bound copies available, in many cases with photographic prints pasted directly onto the pages, and distributed them individually to certain Shroud scholars. Fortunately, archaeologist William Meacham (a member of the STERA, Inc. Board), who had received one of the copies from Dr. Nitowski, was kind enough to scan his copy and send it to me so I could compile it into the pdf document we are including here today and make it part of the Nitowski archive.

Epigraphy on the Turin Shroud by John Nicholas Joseph Lupia, T.O.C. - Regina Caeli Press, January 2, 2020 [21 January 2020]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "This brief article concerns new observations and investigations that reveal much about reverse order in viewing the image, image production, image location, and how we see, think, and theorize about the Shroud. For some the new discovery of the image formation process will propel the Turin Shroud further into deeper mystery. For the scientific minded, on the other hand, it is a refreshing and new fascinating physical-chemical puzzle to muse the mind..."

Evaluation of the potential role of skin contact and transfer in the Maillard hypothesis of image formation on the Shroud of Turin by Kelly P. Kearse - Journal of Historical Archaeology and Anthropological Sciences - July 5, 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"The mechanism for creation of the faint ventral and dorsal images of a man on the Shroud of Turin is unknown. It has been suggested that image formation involves oxidation and dehydration of the cellulose present in the linen, or, alternatively, that a superficial residue on the surface of the cloth is responsible for creating colored products through the Maillard reaction. One of the major criticisms of the latter hypothesis is that gaseous diffusion is not sufficient to result in the detailed bodily structures present on the cloth. Recently, it was proposed that additional substrates might also participate in the Maillard reaction, specifically proteins and amino acids present in skin, helping to increase the detail of any image produced…"

Evidence for the Shroud in Constantinople prior to 1204 by Daniel C. Scavone  (.pdf format) [32k] (From the 1999 Richmond Conference)

This presentation included 22 slides which are not currently included with the article. However, since we plan to include these illustrations in the future, the references to them remain in the text.

Evidence for the Skewing of the C-14 Dating of the Shroud of Turin Due to Repairs by Joseph G. Marino and M. Sue Benford  (.pdf format) [235k] (From the "Sindone 2000" Orvieto Worldwide Congress) (Includes 8 illustrations)

This article presents carefully documented evidence that the section of the Shroud of Turin from which the 1988 C-14 samples were removed, was in fact, a portion of the cloth that was rewoven and repaired in medieval times. If proven true, this evidence would provide the simplest explanation for the medieval age of the cloth arrived at by the three C-14 laboratories that performed the tests.

Evidence Is Not Proof: A Response to Prof. Timothy Jull by Mark Oxley [21 January 2011]

This article was written in response to a paper titled Investigating a Dated Piece of the Shroud of Turin by the University of Arizona's Rachel Freer-Waters and Prof. Timothy Jull that was published in the December 2010 issue of their peer reviewed journal, Radiocarbon. In part it concluded: "In contrast to other reports on less-documented material, we find no evidence to contradict the idea that the sample studied was taken from the main part of the shroud, as reported by Damon et al. (1989). We also find no evidence for either coatings or dyes, and only minor contaminants."

Mark Oxley's article is a carefully written, clear, concise and thoughtful response to the paper.

Evidence that the Shroud was not Completely Flat during the Image Formation by Mario Latendresse [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference)

Above is a link to the article on Mario's website. The following is a link to Mario's Presentation Slides: http://www.sindonology.org/papers/latendresse2005aSlides.pdf

The Evidence of Crucifixion on the Shroud of Turin Through the Anatomical Traits of the Lower Limbs and Feet by V. L. Caja and M. Boi - Archaeometry, First published 03 May 2018. [21 June 2018] Here is the abstract:

"The imprint of the feet and lower limbs, as well as the blood and rivulets, present on the Shroud of Turin were analysed with regard to anatomical and pathological characteristics. In the dorsal image of the cloth, the crucifixion position shows the left foot on top of the right one; in the frontal view, the feet are almost parallel. The nail used in the crucifixion was driven through the foot. In the frontal image, the knees, the tibiae and the ankles seem to be parallel with different varus–valgus angles; the left one is straighter than the right one, which shows a greater angle. Because of this parallelism, both ankles show a plantar flexion that is dissimilar in the dorsal images. We describe for the first time the anatomical study of the image of the Shroud through modern concepts. At the level of biomechanics and anatomy, the image on the Shroud of Turin does not comply with modern knowledge; in fact, the image fails with regard to some aspects that we cannot interpret yet."

Evidences for Testing Hypotheses About the Body Image Formation of the Turin Shroud by Giulio Fanti et al  (.pdf format) [113k] [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference) (24 Co-authors)

This paper, representing the combined efforts of 24 researchers who participate regularly in an online Shroud Science forum, was originally scheduled to be presented at the Dallas Conference, but the authors were notified at the last moment that its acceptance had been revoked because it was deemed to be "too controversial.” Ultimately, it was presented on Saturday evening of the conference by Giulio Fanti to a large group in Dan Porter's Hospitality Suite. However, since the paper was accepted and listed in the Conference Program, I am including it here.

Examination of the Turin Shroud for Image Distortions by W.R. Ercoline, R.C. Downs, Jr. and J.P. Jackson - IEEE 1982 Proceedings of the International Conference on Cybernetics and Society, October 1982, pp. 576-579.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Excursuses to the article "The Shroud of Turin: A Critical Assessment" by Atle Ottesen Søvik - Teologisk tidsskrift (Journal of Theology), no 3, 2013. [1 November 2015]

In this paper the author collected four excursuses for which there was not space in the main article, “The Shroud of Turin: A Critical Assessment,” which we featured in our June 7, 2014 update. [FYI - Excursuses: plural noun - detailed discussions of particular points in a book (or article), usually in an appendix. A digression in a written text]. Our thanks to Joe Marino for letting us know about this follow up article. You can follow Atle and read some of his other papers (many in English) at this link: Atle Ottesen Søvik on Academia.edu.

Exploration of the Face of the Turin Shroud. Linen Fibres Studied by SEM Analysis. by Gerard Lucotte, International Journal of the Latest Research in Science and Technology, 4, 78-83. September-October 2015. [23 November 2016] Here is the Abstract:

"We have studied by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) the linen fibers loaded on the surface of a small sticky tape triangle corresponding to the Face area of the Turin Shroud (TS). Five linen fibers (FL1-5) were found. They are linen fiber portions (maximal length : 50 ƒÝ), broken at the basis and thinned at the extremities, and wrenched from flax threads constituting the TS. Some of them present evidence of white painting, by lime or by mineral deposit of calcite particles."

Exploration of the Face of the Turin Shroud. Pollens Studied by SEM Analysis by Gérard Lucotte - Archeological Discovery, Vol.3 No.4, October 2015. [1 November 2015] Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"We studied by SEM-EDX analysis the pollens on the Face of the Turin Shroud. A total of ten pollen grains were found; they were photographed, characterised and analysed. Three of them (pollens p6, p7 and p10) belong to Ceratonia siliqua, the carob tree; one of them (pollen p1) belongs to Balanites aegyptiaca (the palm tree of the desert), and another one (pollen p9) belongs to Cercis siliquastrum (the Judean tree). These three plants have their geographical distributions in the Near-East; that is indicative of a Palestinian origin of the Turin Shroud..."

A Face in the Shroud by Robin Lynn Waxenberg - Connecticut College, 1981-1982 Student Newspapers, October 16, 1981, College Voice Vol. 5 No. 5 [19 Sept 2016]

This article appeared in the College Voice, a weekly student newspaper, just days after the STURP team's final meeting at Connecticut College on October 10-11, 1981. Our thanks to our friend Ken Yakkel, who was researching STURP when he came across the article online and was kind enough to share it with us. Although the Shroud is the headline story on page one, you will have to do some scrolling to get to the rest of the article since the entire issue is included. A great moment in Shroud history!

Faith and science dialogue in the Shroud of Turin (English language) - Diálogo Entre Fe y Ciencia en la Síndone de Turín (En Español) by Josep Fernandez-Capo [16 August 2015]

This paper first appeared in Scientia et Fides, Vol 3, No 1 (2015).

Fathers of American Sindonology, The by Dorothy Crispino

In this fascinating article, Dorothy relates the story of the men who formed the Holy Shroud Guild, the first group to promote Shroud research in the United States. It introduces the men whose efforts ultimately helped STURP obtain permission to perform the 1978 scientific examination of the Shroud. Dorothy was the Publisher and Editor of Shroud Spectrum International, the first peer reviewed journal in the United States dedicated exclusively to the study of the Shroud (Sindonology). This presentation was originally delivered at the 1996 Esopus Conference.

Feasibility Analysis of Studies on Linen from the Shroud of Turin Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, A by Giulio Fanti & Ulf Winkler (.pdf format) [54k] (English)

Analisi di fattibilità di indagini sul lino della Sindone di Torino mediante risonanza magnetica nucleare (.pdf format) [57k] (Italian)

These papers were originally presented at the 1998 Turin Symposium and are available in both English and Italian versions.

Feasibility Study for Neutron Beam Investigation of the Turin Shroud (Studio di fattibilità per l'investigazione della Sindone di Torino mediante tecniche neutroniche) by Massimo Rogante and László Rosta [19 Sept 2016]

International Journal of New Technology and Research, ISSN:2454-4116, Volume 2, Issue 3, (2016), pp. 86-95. English with a preface in Italian language.

Finding the Shroud in the 21st Century by M. Sue Benford and Joseph G. Marino

This is the earliest paper by Benford and Marino (December 2001) proposing their theory of a rewoven and anomalous sample site used for the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud

Fire and the Portrait, The by Jack Markwardt - Czech Translation by professional translator Daniela Milton - Now available in the Ukrainian Language [10 October 2017] - German Language - Russian Language [21 June 2018] - Dutch Language version by Arno Hazecamp [8 October 2018] - Spanish Language version [10 June 2019]

This paper proposes to resolve, and to reconcile, two of the Shroud's most tantalizing mysteries: When and how did it incur the fire damage now generally referred to as the "poker holes" and when and why was it converted into the portrait known as the Image of Edessa. This paper was originally delivered at the 1998 Turin Symposium.

Editor's Note: See the article on this website titled The Red Stains on the Lier and Other Shroud Copies by Remi Van Haelst. It includes four detailed color photographic closeups of the burn holes discussed in this paper, as well as the transmitted light image of the Shroud mentioned in the footnotes.

The First Selfie: Does the Shroud of Turin provide Scientific evidence of the Resurrection? by John Klotz. Published March 24, 2016 on John's blog: Living Free. This article includes footnotes and references not included in the blog version. Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

"Given the fact that the first photograph is generally credited to Joseph Nicephore Niepce ("Niepce") in 1826, it would be a stretch to credit the Shroud of Turin as the "first photograph." Yet that is precisely what Professor Gail Buckland has done. If that is an acceptable tag for the Shroud, then tagging the Shroud as the "first selfie" may also be appropriate."

First Shroud Photo, The by Remi Van Haelst

The author has compiled a large number of press articles about Secondo Pia and his correspondence with Paul Vignon, Arthur Loth, Baron Manno and several others. In addition to some very interesting insights into Pia's work and the criticisms he endured, it also provides some of his technical photographic data and a chart of Shroud measurements made at various times between 1503 and 1898.

Five Reasons Why Some Christians Are Shroud Skeptics by Barrie Schwortz - Reprinted from the Spring 2016 issue, pages 67-76 of The City, a publication of Houston Baptist University. Ukrainian translation by Ryan Bronson - Edubirdie [10 June 2019] - Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

"Over the years I have spoken to hundreds of Christian groups of nearly every denomination and have probably heard every reason why people either love or hate the Shroud... When I was asked to write this article for The City I realized this was a perfect opportunity to expand on the information I had been presenting at my lectures and dispel in detail some of the misconceptions about the Shroud that many Christians seem to have. Before you make up your mind, I believe you should know the facts."

Floral Images and Pollen Grains on the Shroud of Turin: An Interview with Dr. Alan Whanger and Dr. Avinoam Danin by John C. Iannone (.pdf format) [15k]

In this very recent article, John spent considerable time interviewing the researchers and then additional time allowing them to review his article for accuracy. This article provides excellent insight into some of the most important, current research being done on the Shroud.

Floristic Indicators for the Origin of the Shroud of Turin by Avinoam Danin and Uri Baruch (.pdf format) [25k] (Full Paper)

From the 1998 Turin Symposioum.

Forensic aspects and blood chemistry of the Turin Shroud Man by Niels Svensson and Thibault Heimburger - Academic Journals, Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 7 (29), pp. 2513-2525, 30 July, 2012. Excellent review paper on Shroud bloodstains. Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"...red stains of different size, form and density are spread all over the body image and in a few instances outside the body. Forensic examination by help of different analyzing tools reveals these stains as human blood. The distribution and flow of the blood, the position of the body are compatible with the fact that the Turin Shroud Man (TSM) has been crucified. This paper analyses the already known essential forensic findings supplied by new findings and experiments by the authors..."

Free Electron Model of Image Formation on Shroud of Turin by Charles A. Rogers - Academia.edu, December 2, 2017 [21 January 2020]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: " Eyewitnesses reported that the dead body of Jesus of Nazareth disappeared while wrapped in a cloth. Today the only credible physical evidence of this amazing event is the Shroud of Turin, which many people believe was Jesus’ actual burial cloth. This cloth contains front and back full length body images that many researchers agree are of a real man. Our present knowledge of science does not explain disappearance of a dead body, so this discussion accepts its disappearance as fact..."

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) by Raymond N. Rogers [July 2004] (Includes 9 color & b&w illustrations) - Questions Fréquemment Posées (FAQ) (en français) (French translation Added 31 August 2013)

Ray accumulated the questions he had been asked (and has answered) most often over the years and compiled them into this paper. In it, you will find that Ray provides clear, detailed answers to nineteen of the most important questions about the Shroud of Turin and supports each answer with empirical scientific data.

Further Empirical Data Indicating Repairs in the C-14 Sample Area of the Shroud of Turin by Joe Marino - Academia.edu - August 25, 2023 - Here is the online description:

"This article revises and updates several previous versions presented at conferences in 2000, 2017 and 2019. My late wife, Sue Benford, and I first hypothesized in 2000 the reason that the 1988 C-14 results produced a range of AD 1260-1390 was that the sample chosen was actually a combination, at least to some degree, of original 1st-century cloth and 16th-century repair material. Additional supporting data has been added since 2019. The data strongly indicates that the C-14 sample was from a repair area of the Shroud of Turin."

Further Studies on the Scorches and the Watermarks by Aldo Guerreschi  (.pdf format) [437k] [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference) (40 photographs and illustrations)

As always, Aldo Guerreschi's thoughtful, thorough and empirical approach to Shroud research is evidenced in this, his latest contribution to our knowledge of the Shroud. In this newest paper, perhaps the best presented at the 2005 Dallas conference, Aldo recreates the fire of 1532 and provides a highly credible explanation for the infamous burn holes and scorches on the Shroud. Long thought to be caused by molten silver dripping onto the cloth from the superheated silver-covered reliquary, this theory was not borne out by the data gathered in 1978 by STURP, as their spectral analysis found no silver residue in any of the burned or scorched areas. Aldo's most recent work provides what may be the best answer to this problem.

Geography of the Shroud, The by Emanuela Marinelli (.pdf format) [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference)

In this paper, Emanuela provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of Shroud studies around the world and includes links to dozens of Shroud related websites.

Ghiberti's pronouncement on my analyses by Raymond N. Rogers [January 23, 2005]

Rogers' response to criticism of his work by Msgr. Giuseppe Ghiberti.

Have There Been Multiple Secret C-14 Tests on the Shroud of Turin? by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - October 12, 2020 [7 November 2020] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“Some people are aware that there was a putative secret C-14 test on the Shroud performed in 1982 on a thread of the so-called “Raes sample” extracted from the Shroud in 1973. (It was named after the late Belgian textile expert Prof. Gilbert Raes.) However, there are very few people who are aware that there may have been at least two other secret C-14 testings of the Shroud. Also little known are the facts that many more Shroud samples exist than previously thought, and that the number and provenance of at least some of the “Raes samples” are open to questions. Of course, the more samples that existed, the more chance there was that individuals would try to date them. The politics and intrigue here are a subset of what I have documented in my eight-hundred-page book, ‘The 1988 C-14 Dating of the Shroud of Turin: A Stunning Exposé’…”

Hematite, Biotite and Cinnabar on the Face of the Turin Shroud: Microscopy and SEM-EDX Analysis by Lucotte, G., Derouin, T. and Thomasset, T. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 6, 601-625. 16 September 2016 [19 September 2016] Here is the abstract:

The Turin Shroud, recently accessible for hands-on scientific research, is now extensively investigated. Its pinkish red blood stains that seem anomalous ones are studied by modern techniques (notably by resolute optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray). Exploration by these techniques of a blood stain located on the face permits us to discover some red-colour particles (hematite, biotite and cinnabar) of exogenous material in this stain. We finally characterize these red-colour particles and try to explain their presences in the blood stain. Globally, all these red-colour particles cannot explain all of the reddish appearance of the area under study.

Hermeneutic of the Holy Shroud of Turin - Clelia Albano - Academia.edu/Letters - August 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"In "Truth and Method", Hans- Georg Gadamer argues that the artistic event, both in poetry and in visual art, in its appearance and representation is not a mere "illustration", or a copy, but constitutes an ontological event. As such, the represented image coincides with what it represents; i.e. the image coincides with its own truth. I argue that this hermeneutic approach might be applicable to the Holy Shroud of Turin, although it is not a work of Art (until it is proven otherwise). Inside collective imagery it arose as a mysterious symbol, mostly considered the burial shroud of Christ…"

Historical References of the Turin Shroud from the Third through Thirteenth Centuries by Russ Breault – Academia.edu – April 26, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the online description:

“The following is a consolidation of important historical references of the Shroud through the early centuries found in multiple sources. I have gathered the most significant references here in one document. Together, they form a compelling argument for a historical trail that traces back a thousand years earlier than the 14th century as promulgated by the carbon dating tests of 1988…”

Historical Support of a 16th Century Restoration in the Shroud C-14 Sample Area by M. Sue Benford and Joseph G. Marino  (.pdf format) [92k] [August 2002] (Includes 4 illustrations)

One of the main criticisms leveled at Marino and Benford's original proposal was the credibility of their claim that such an "invisible" reweaving method even existed, let alone was good enough to avoid detection by the experts who have studied the Shroud in the last century. Their second paper directly addresses this issue and documents the art of invisible reweaving in great detail.

The Historicity of Jesus, the Physical Reality of the Resurrection and the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin - Some Reflections by Joseph G. Marino (April 12, 2024). Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:

“It occurred to me that if the idea of Jesus as a myth is true, then an incalculable amount of hours has been spent since the 1st century on the concomitant subjects of the Resurrection of Jesus and the Shroud of Turin. If Jesus had never existed, then the Resurrection could not have happened and the Shroud of Turin has become the most intensely studied artifact in human history without even having a connection to Jesus. The Shroud is an intriguing object. Even Christians who believe it to be authentic acknowledge that its authenticity ultimately has nothing to do with the core values of their faith. But the Shroud exists and seems to accurately match and even enhance the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus.”

A History of the Centro Mexicano de Sindonologia (CMS) by Dr. Julio Lopez, or en español: Historia del Centro Mexicano de Sindonología (CMS) [December 14, 2013] (Includes 22 color illustrations)

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the CMS, Dr. Julio Lopez has written an exclusive article for us that charts the history and evolution of the organization in text and photographs and includes a special tribute to Sindonologists past and present. A special thanks to Julio's son, Julio López Rodriguez, for providing us with the English translation of his father's article.

History of Shroud.com, The by Barrie M. Schwortz [January 21, 2012] (En Español)

The story of how it all began.

The History of the Image of Edessa: the telling of a story (a reply to Dame Professor Averil Cameron) by Pam Moon and Dr. Cheryl White – Academia.edu – January 27, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

“In the 1980’s Dame Professor Averil Cameron hypothesised that the Holy Mandylion, or Image of Edessa was not a miraculous ‘made without hand’ image of the face of Christ. It was instead a sixth century painting by an unknown artist. This paper evaluates Professor Cameron’s arguments…”

The Holy Blood of Jesus, the Shroud of Turin and Art; 1036 - 1195 by Pam Moon - Academia.edu - November 27, 2021 - [21 JAN 2022] Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"…The artefacts consistently show the face of Christ with features which match the Shroud of Turin. They show a right-sided spear wound, long hair, a pronounced inverted V shape on the chest, retracted thumbs, and a swelling to the neck, all consistent with what is visible on the Shroud. One armlet of Frederick Barbarossa shows Jesus lifting his Shroud out of the tomb; the Melisende Psalter illustrates the grave clothes. All these pieces of evidence suggest that, during this period, the sindon of Jesus was well known, and that the facial features and bodily wounds of Christ closely resemble the Shroud of Turin."

Holy Fire and Body Image of the Holy Shroud: Divine Photography Hypothesis by Giulio Fanti – World Scientific News – January 18, 2023 [21 JAN 2023] - Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

“Although the double body image of the Holy Shroud (HS) is still today inexplicable and even less reproducible, various hypotheses have been formulated which attempt to explain at least in part what is observed on the most important Relic of Christianity. Many of these hypotheses refer to an intense energy emitted by the corpse that often comes out of traditional science and calls into question the Resurrection, which obviously cannot be reproduced in the laboratory. This work overcomes this problem by proposing as a hypothesis for the formation of the HS body image an energy source very similar to that which develops every year inside the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem: the Holy Fire (HF) which is associated with high intensity electric phenomena…”

The Holy Shroud of Turin in Constantinople 944-1036 AD by Pam Moon – Academia.edu – August 3, 2021 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“This paper presents a compendium of significant illuminations, texts, reliquaries, ivories and a mosaic which indicate the presence of the Shroud of Turin in Constantinople between 944 and 1036 AD. The primary source materials are the Madrid Skylitzes, which is the only surviving illustrated manuscript from this period, created by Ioannes Skylitzes (1040s-1101); the Limburg Staurotheke (945-985); the Romanos II ivories, the Zoë mosaic in Hagia Sophia and the writings of Constantine VII (905-959). There is very little explanation, as the main focus is on the sources and their inter-relation…”

The Holy Shroud of Turin, the Sudarium of Oviedo, the Eucharistic Miracles and AB Blood Group by Pam Moon - Academia.edu - 2020 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the introduction: "The Holy Shroud of Turin, the Sudarium of Oviedo and multiple Eucharistic miracles (Lanciano, Buenos Aires, Tixtla, Cúa, Sokó?ka and Legnica), have the same blood group: AB. This is an extraordinary co-incidence. In ancient Israel, archaeologists have discovered that AB was the most common blood-group, but across the worldwide population today it is rare. Based on modern-day frequency of AB in the population (5.5%), the probability of the same blood group being found in the Shroud of Turin, the Sudarium of Oviedo and the six Eucharistic miracles mentioned above is in the order of 22 billion to one. The obvious explanation is that the blood all relates to the same person, Jesus Christ. This paper follows on from the work of Kelly Kearse, adding more details about individual Eucharistic miracles."

How much contamination is needed to shift the C-14 date from the 1st to the 14th Century? - O.K. - Academia.edu - September 25, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"Since the controversial C-14 dating of the Shroud of Turin in 1988 a fierce debate endured about THE validity of the results, allegedly placing the origin of the Shroud between the years 1260 and 1390, instead of circa 30 AD, the time Jesus Christ died. Many theories why the 1988 dating was wrong have been proposed. In 2005 Raymond Rogers proved that the sample taken from a single site from one of the corners of the Shroud came from the repaired instead of original part of the Shroud, and thus 1988 dating is invalid…"

[Editor's Note: The above paper was written by the highly respected Polish Sindonologist who prefers to go only by the initials O.K. Consequently, he requested that Joe Marino post his latest papers online via Academia.edu, which Joe was happy to accommodate. We previously linked to a four-part series on the 3-D Properties of the Shroud by O.K., which was originally published in 2015 on the (now defunct but still available) Shroud of Turin Blog page by Dan Porter. To see the depth and extent of O.K.'s research, you can also visit his Polish Language Website.]

How Raymond Rogers PROVED that the 1988 C-14 dating of the Shroud was WORTHLESS - O.K. - Academia.edu - September 25, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"In a peer-reviewed article written in 2005 shortly before his death, Raymond Rogers, a chemist from Los Alamos, and a former member of STURP collaboration that examined [the] Shroud in 1978, decisively refuted the 1988 carbon dating of the Shroud of Turin, that indicated the cloth's origin between 1260 and 1390. The Roger's work showed that the single sample used for dating and excised from the corner of the Shroud, was actually taken from the restored and not original part of the cloth, and thus the 1988 dating is irrelevant regarding the true age of the Shroud…"

[Editor's Note: The above paper was written by the highly respected Polish Sindonologist who prefers to go only by the initials O.K. Consequently, he requested that Joe Marino post his latest papers online via Academia.edu, which Joe was happy to accommodate. We previously linked to a four-part series on the 3-D Properties of the Shroud by O.K., which was originally published in 2015 on the (now defunct but still available) Shroud of Turin Blog page by Dan Porter. To see the depth and extent of O.K.'s research, you can also visit his Polish Language Website.]

How was the Turin Shroud Man Crucified? - by M. Bevilacqua, G. Fanti, M. D’Arienzo, A. Porzionato, V. Macchi, and R. De Caro - Injury, Volume 45, Supplement 6, December 2014, Pages S142–S148. This link is via Science Direct. [Added 21 Jan 2015]

Here is a brief excerpt from the Abstract: As the literature is not exhaustive with reference to the way the Turin Shroud (TS) Man was crucified, and it is not easy to draw significant information from only a “photograph” of a man on a linen sheet, this study tries to add some detail on this issue based on both image processing of high resolution photos of the TS and on experimental tests on arms and legs of human cadavers.

Hypothetical photo-nuclear effects, dating and imaging on the Shroud of Turin by Jean-Pierre Laude - Proc. SPIE 12136, Unconventional Optical Imaging III, 121360Z (20 May 2022); doi: 10.1117/12.2620953 Event: SPIE Photonics Europe, 2022, Strasbourg, France [21 JAN 2023] - Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"Turin Shroud: neutrons and protons produced by interaction of ? photons with the buried body, i.e. reaction16O(?, n)15O in giant dipole resonance, followed by 14N(n, p)14C, could have biased radio-dating, and formed the image Keywords: Turin-Shroud, Gamma-rays, radio-dating, RREA, GDR, lightning, bremsstrahlung, (?, n), (n, p) T. Phillips, J. B. Rinaudo and subsequently many others, hypothesized that neutrons and ultrashort duration protons bombardment had biased the radio-dating and contributed to the formation of the image…" Also available in a French Language version at this link: Effets photonucléaires hypothétiques, datation et imagerie sur le Suaire de Turin.

Ideas for Research on the Shroud of Turin by Robert A. Rucker, November 11, 2016. Academia.edu. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"This paper lists ideas for research that would be helpful to solve the main mysteries related to the Shroud of Turin. This suggested research includes questions to be considered and ideas for calculations and experiments to be done..."

If an Artist Created the Shroud of Turin: Some Specific Issues to Consider by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – February 14, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

“The late author John Walsh [The Shroud. (New York: Random House), 1963, xi-xii] made a statement about the Shroud of Turin, the reputed burial cloth of Jesus, which is often cited in Shroud literature. The quote is: The Shroud of Turin is either the most awesome and instructive relic of Jesus Christ in existence... or it is one of the most ingenious, most unbelievably clever products of the human mind and hand on record. It is one or the other; there is no middle ground. The debate continues to rage about the Shroud, for which we have a solid documentary history starting in the 1350s. According to a statement in a scientific peer-reviewed journal, “The Shroud of Turin is the single, most studied artifact in human history” (page 200). Many people, including scientists and researchers, are convinced it’s authentic. They point to an abundance of scientific evidence, mostly garnered by a group of mainly American scientists known at The Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP)…”

Image Formation and the Shroud of Turin by Dr. Emily A. Craig and Dr. Randall R. Bresee  (.pdf format) [315k]

This article first appeared in the peer-reviewed Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, Volume 38, No. 1, p.59-67. (1994). It presents a method by which the carbon-dust drawing technique can be modified to produce an image that the authors claim has the same physical characteristics as the image on the Shroud of Turin. The authors are quick to point out that this method and theory do not prove that someone DID produce the image on the Shroud of Turin. They do claim however, that with this method someone actually COULD have created such an image. The original article stresses the concept that a medieval artist could have created the image, but perhaps the most compelling new "twist" to this theory is found in the previously unpublished preface added here by Dr. Craig. Dr. Craig (Kentucky State Medical Examiner's Office) is an internationally recognized expert in forensic anthropology, which includes three-dimensional reconstruction of human faces on skulls as well as the analysis of skeletal trauma and decomposition. Dr. Craig also has over 25 years of experience as a professional medical illustrator with national and international awards for painting, sculpture, and photography. Dr. Bresee is a professor of textile science (University of Tennessee in Knoxville) and an internationally recognized expert in the field of forensic textile analysis. This article is posted with permission of IS&T: The Society for Imaging Science and Technology, sole copyright owners of IS&T's Journal of Photographic Science and Engineering for the term of January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2002, www.imaging.org

Image Formation Hypotheses Pertaining to the Shroud of Turin - an English-Language Bibliography by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - November 16, 2022 [5 Dec 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "…This article will list citations in separate sections for papers/articles: *1) that propose one or more radiations as a cause for the images *2) that deny that radiation could be the cause *3) that propose pro-biochemical effects as a cause for the images *4) that entail miscellaneous pro-authenticity hypotheses that don't involve radiation *5) anti-authenticity (artistic) hypotheses…"

Image Formation Mechanism on the Shroud of Turin, The: A Solar Reflex Radiation Model (the Optical Aspect) by Serge N. Mouraviev (.pdf format) [66k]

La Formation de l’Image sur le Suaire de Turin: Projection optique (et Fixation photochimique) de l’Image réflexe renvoyée par le Corps exposé au Soleil  (.pdf format) [65k]

Reprinted from the December 1997 issue of Applied Optics, this paper is available in both English and French and presents a unique hypothesis for image formation.

Image formation of the Turin Shroud: Hypothesis based on water vapor effects of light absorption by Giuseppe Baldacchini and Francesco Baldacchini - Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 7(29), pp. 2591-2602, 30 July, 2012. [22 November 2021] Here is the abstract:

“The Shroud of Turin displays a weak front and back body image which inter alia is very superficial and possesses three-dimensional properties. Up to now it has been impossible to reproduce all its characteristics at the same time albeit several attempts were made in many laboratories. But lately, coloration similar to that of the Shroud has been imprinted on dry linen cloths with a powerful VUV radiation of an excimer laser, which however does not exclude the fact that a different laser source could do the same. In fact, a new hypothesis is advanced here which is based on the irradiation of wet linen cloths with a short and powerful pulse of a CO2 laser. Besides the well-known features of pulsed IR laser, the hypothesis is based solely on the peculiar optical and thermal properties of water and vapor, and therein an experimental investigation is proposed to prove its validity.”

Image Formation on Shroud of Turin During Disappearance of Jesus' Body by Charles Rogers, Academia.edu, 21 April 2019.

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "The Shroud of Turin contains the image of a crucified man thought by many to have been Jesus of Nazareth. After crucifixion, Jesus’ body was wrapped in cloth, sealed in a tomb, and then reported to have disappeared. Both disappearance of his body and formation of an image on cloth appear impossible. For this study disappearance of the body is accepted as fact, leaving only the image to be explained. The assumption is made that an interface opened to a higher dimensionality to swallow the body, while leaving behind void populated by electrons and photons. A Free Electron Model of Image Formation is proposed to explain how this image might have been created..."

Imagen del Sudario de Turín procesada con la técnica FFT (En Español) - Turin Shroud image processed with the FFT technique (Google English translation) by Wilfredo Orozco - Blog of Espacial.org - September 28, 2015. [1 November 2015] - Ein Bild des Turiner Grabtuchs, analysiert mit der FFT-Technik (German language translation by Jonas Wintergalen) [19 September 2016]

The author, from Mendoza, Argentina, wrote his own code to apply a technique known as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to the Shroud image. His original photograph contained the prominent weave pattern of the cloth, which was successfully removed without deleting too much original data. If you are interested in learning more about FFT, the author has provided several other links to his articles (in Spanish) which you can translate using one of the online translation services. The articles include More images restored with the FFT technique and The power of mathematics and computing.

The Image of Edessa Transfer from the Muslims to the Byzantines in AD 943: Sindonological Implications by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - April 11, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is the introduction: "The Image of Edessa, a cloth believed to have an image of Jesus on it and possibly identified with the Shroud of Turin, was transferred in AD 943 from the Muslims to a large Byzantine army at Edessa in exchange for leaving Edessa untouched, to pay a large sum of money, and to release 200 high-ranking Muslim prisoners. Three main questions are addressed: 1. Would Romanus have given up so much to obtain a cloth that was merely an artistic rendition of Jesus? 2. How good is other evidence that points to the belief that what arrived in Constantinople in 944 is what we now call the Shroud of Turin? 3. What could account for the fact that there are discrepancies between the descriptions of the Image of Edessa and Mandylion being only facial images versus full images? More historical research needs to be done."

The Image on the Shroud of Turin is not the result of Earthquake Activity by John Iannone

Comments to www.shroud.com dated February 19, 2014. John presents his arguments from biblical and historical points of view. [7 June 2014]

Image Processing of the Shroud of Turin by C. Avis, D. Lynn, J. Lorre, S. Lavoie, J. Clark, E. Armstrong, and J. Addington - IEEE 1982 Proceedings of the International Conference on Cybernetics and Society, October 1982, pp. 554-558.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Imaging Spectroscopy: A New Non-Destructive Method for Materials Analysis by Warren S. Grundfest, M.D. (.pdf format) [235k] (From The 2001 Dallas Meeting of American Sindonology)

Dr. Grundfest's presentation was one of the highlights of the meeting, detailing a new, non-destructive imaging technology that could provide complete spectral data and chemical analysis for every point on the Shroud and make a significant contribution to the conservation of the cloth.

The Impact on Sindonology of Secondo Pia and Dr. Yves Delage by Joe Marino - Academia.edu - January 1, 2022 - [21 JAN 2022] Here is the online description:

"The trials of two 19th and 20th century Shroud researchers are recounted as well as how their actions affect the study of the Shroud down to the current day."

Imprint, The by Peter Carr (.pdf format) [63k]

This paper provides a fascinating account of the Jospice Mattress imprint. Although this is not directly about the Shroud of Turin, it is still significant in that it is the only scientifically documented case in modern times of a dead body leaving an unexplainable imprint on a piece of cloth. Although the image is different than that on the Shroud, it still provides solid evidence that these type of unexplainable phenomena can occur. You should find it interesting, as the story of the image and the man that left it is well documented.

Inadequacies in Serological ABO Typing of Ancient Artifacts: The Shroud of Turin as a Case Example by Kelly Kearse - International Journal of Forensic Sciences, Volume 8 Issue 3 - September 11, 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"…It is widely reported that the Shroud bloodstains are blood type AB, based on previous findings that were never published in a peer-reviewed format. Here, the shortfalls of using serological testing for ABO determination of ancient objects are discussed using the Shroud of Turin as a case example. It is determined that the AB designation for the Shroud bloodstains is inconclusive and should be considered as type unknown pending further testing."

Individual Medical Doctors' Viewpoints on the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - August 12, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"One of the striking features about the study of the Shroud of Turin is how many medical personnel have weighed with their analyses. Starting with French biologist Dr. Paul Vignon in the early 20th-century, most medical doctors who have studied the Shroud believe that the image accurately depicts anatomically and physiologically an actual human body that has undergone the torture of crucifixion. Naturally, there is not a 100% consensus on authenticity or even of specific points such as why the blood is still red or where exactly the wound in the hand is located. But it is impressive that two of the pathologists on the list, Drs. Robert Bucklin and Dr. Frederick Zugibe, who each studied the Shroud about 50 years each and who performed a combined approximate 50,000 (!) autopsies, both believed that the Shroud image was that of a real, crucified man who died…"

Influence of ultraviolet radiation on the color of blood stains embedded in the archaeological textile known as the Shroud of Turin by Paolo Di Lazzaro, Daniele Murra, Antonio Di Lascio, Academia.edu, February 2019. [NOTE: this paper, with few modifications, has been published in the Proceedings Volume of the XXII International Symposium on High Power Laser Systems and Applications, edited by P. Di Lazzaro, Proc. SPIE vol. 11042, pp.1104214-1 to 1104214-6].

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "After a brief introduction on the scientific data about the age of the cloth and the microscopic complexity of the images embedded on it, we discuss the unique reddish color of blood stains on the Shroud, which caught the attention of several scholars in the last decades. Various hypotheses were proposed to explain the blood stains reddish color, and the experimental tests produced uncertain results because data were not sufficient or were obtained in vitro. We have tested the strength of two hypotheses, namely, the long term influence of ultraviolet (UV) light on high-bilirubin blood and the presence of carboxyhemoglobin, respectively by RGB color analyses of high-bilirubin blood after irradiation by ns excimer laser pulses and UV lamp and by the study of the spectral reflectance of the blood stains on the Shroud."

Information Content on the Shroud of Turin by Robert A. Rucker - Academia.edu - June 28, 2016. [19 Sept 2016]

This is a new and powerful argument for the necessity of radiation to be emitted from the body to carry the information content from the body to the cloth that is necessary to form the image on the Shroud. Use this link for the latest version of this article: List of Papers by Robert Rucker on his Shroud Research Net website

Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy and Thermographic Investigations of the Shroud of Turin by J.S. Accetta and J.S. Baumgart - Applied Optics, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp. 1921-1929.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Injuries to the Hands of the Man of the Shroud by Dr. Andrew Husselbee with Pam Moon - Academia.edu - May 27, 2022 - BSTS Shroud Conference, Brewood

Here is the introduction: "Dr Andrew Husselbee BA, BM, BCh (1986 Oxford) DA, MRCGP did his medical training at Oxford University and worked as a doctor in Nigeria. For years now he has been the highly respected senior partner at Brewood Medical Surgery. When the exhibition of the Shroud of Turin was in Brewood in 2017, I had written that there are no thumbs on the Shroud because of median nerve damage. Andrew challenged that. We would like to explore the injuries to the hands of the Man of the Shroud in a question and answer format…"

Inscriptions on the Shroud, The by Mark Guscin (.pdf format) [15k] (Reprinted from the BSTS Newsletter, No. 50, November 1999)

Mark Guscin is a member of both the BSTS and the Centro Español de Sindonologia (CES) and is the noted linguist and historian that wrote the definitive book on the Sudarium of Oviedo. This article challenges the theories of Marion and Courage, two French researchers who claim they have discovered new "inscriptions" on the Shroud.

Instructive inter-laboratory comparison, An : The 1988 radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin by Bryan Walsh and Larry Schwalbe - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 29, February 2020 [21 January 2020]

Here is the abstract: "We review the statistical method cited in the report of the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin. Following strict analytical protocol, we find the Shroud data to be heterogeneous, while data from three control samples show no heterogeneity. We consider two potential sources for the Shroud data heterogeneity. The first, an approximate linear dependence of the dates on the original sample locations suggests a variation in the carbon isotopic composition. The second, differences in the cleaning protocols of the three laboratories may have given rise to differences in residual contamination. We suggest experiments to test the two competing hypotheses."

Into the Lion's Den by Barrie Schwortz - Shroud.com - October 24, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the Prologue to the article: "In a recent article titled, "Dr. Walter McCrone's Research on the Shroud of Turin Under a Microscope," Joe Marino, one of the most prolific Shroud scholars of modern times, briefly mentioned an interesting event that I participated in back in 2002, which I had originally described to him in a phone conversation. Upon reading his article, I realized there was a lot more to the story that should be told, so I decided to write this article and include all the details (for the historical record). So thank you Joe for providing me with the incentive to do so."

Investigating a Dated Piece of the Shroud of Turin by Rachel Freer-Waters and Prof. Timothy Jull, Radiocarbon Vol 52, No.4, p. 1521-1527, December 2010

Abstract: We present a photomicrographic investigation of a sample of the Shroud of Turin, split from one used in the radiocarbon dating study of 1988 at Arizona. In contrast to other reports on less-documented material, we find no evidence to contradict the idea that the sample studied was taken from the main part of the shroud, as reported by Damon et al. (1989). We also find no evidence for either coatings or dyes, and only minor contaminants. (Note: This link is to a Subscriber Only page and only the abstract is accessible to the public. Also read the article titled Evidence Is Not Proof: A Response to Prof. Timothy Jull by Mark Oxley for a detailed response to this paper). Also available here: Investigating a Dated Piece of the Shroud of Turin, Published online: 18 July 2016 by Cambridge University Press.

Investigating the color of the blood stains on archaeological cloths: the case of the Shroud of Turin by A. Di Lascio, P. Di Lazzaro, P. Iacomussi, M. Missori & D. Murra - Applied Optics, Vol. 57, pages 6626-6631, 2018. Now available on Academia.edu. [10 June 2019] Here is the abstract:

"The unique reddish blood stains on the archaeological cloth known as the Shroud of Turin caught the attention of several scholars, who proposed different hypotheses to explain the unusual blood color. To date, just few hypotheses have been tested experimentally, and the results are debatable. In this paper we test the strength of two hypotheses (namely, the presence of carboxyhemoglobin and the long term influence of ultraviolet light on high bilirubin blood by the spectral reflectance of the blood stain regions on the Shroud and by color analyses of ultraviolet irradiated high bilirubin blood stains on linen. The relevance of these simple methods to the study of stained textiles is discussed."

Investigations into the effect of carbon monoxide exposure on bloodstain color: Implications for the Shroud of Turin by Kelly Kearse [10 October 2017]

Here is an excerpt from the Abstract: "...It has been noted that the bloodstains on the Shroud of Turin appear too red in color for blood that is reportedly some 600-2000 years old. Various explanations have been put forth for the blood color on the Shroud, including the suggestion that CO bound to hemoglobin via endogenous or exogenous mechanisms is responsible. In this report, the effect of CO exposure on bloodstain color is evaluated and its relevance to the appearance of the Shroud of Turin bloodstains is discussed."

Invisible Mending of the Shroud in Theory and Reality, The by Mechthild Flury-Lemberg (.pdf format) [26k]

This paper was originally presented at the II International Congress on the Sudarium of Oviedo held in Oviedo, Spain, on April 13 - 15, 2007.
(Editor's Note: The illustrations for this paper can now be viewed at: www.shroud.com/mechthild.htm.)

Isotope Measurements and Provenance Studies of the Turin Shroud by R.H. Dinegar and L.A. Schwalbe - Archaeological Chemistry IV, Ed. Ralph O. Allen, Advances in Chemistry Series 220 (American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1989) Chapter 23, pp. 409-417.

(Abstract only. Full paper available for purchase or by subscription).

Is The Holy Shroud Authentic? by Giuseppe Dibello, Academia.edu, 2017.

Here is a description by the author: "Is the Holy Shroud, the icon traditionally attributed to the body of Christ, true or is it an artistic reproduction? An image type analysis makes us understand that..."

Is The Shroud a table cloth? Exploring the modern roots of how we perceive the Last Supper and a comparison with the ancient way by Paul C. Maloney - Posted to the Shroud Science Group (SSG), July 31, 2017. Reprinted with the author's permission. Here are some brief excerpts from the article:

"...to accomplish what the church wanted to do, the best way would be to continue with the re-enactment of Da Vinci Last Supper because there would be problems presenting to a congregation the individual speeches since some of the disciples, using the first century rendition, would have their backs to the audience. But, aside from that, there are many things about the medieval and Renaissance paintings that do not reflect accurately how the Jews in the time of Jesus would have done it. ...The safest way to judge the dining of the first century is to employ archaeology and stick to the murals found in Pompeii. Tables with wooden legs were burned due to the volcano in 79 AD (Pompeii & Herculaneum) and the ravages of time wherein organics—such as wood, cloth, and other perishable items—and are no longer available to give us a truly accurate picture of dining in the first century."

Is The Shroud of Turin a Medieval Photograph? A Critical Examination of the Theory by Barrie M. Schwortz  (.pdf format) [308k] (From the "Sindone 2000" Orvieto Worldwide Congress) (illustrated with 7 photographs)

In this paper the "proto-photography" theory of Nicholas Allen is examined in detail by a professional photographer. Allen proposes that the Shroud image is actually the product of a medieval photographer who used a camera obscura with a crystal lens to "photograph" a corpse onto linen cloth and Allen actually produced such an image using medieval raw materials. In this paper, Allen's results are evaluated in a side-by-side comparison with the image on the Shroud and some of the more sophisticated properties of the Shroud image are explained in detail. A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the May 2000 Imaging Conference in San Felice Circeo, Italy.

Is the Shroud of Turin a Painting? by Isabel Piczek - Alicia en el País de las Maravillas y la Sábana Santa de Turín (En Español)

An in depth study that examines the Shroud from an artist's perspective. Isabel Piczek is a world reknown monumental artist, theoretical physicist and active Shroud researcher since 1988. She has given numerous lectures around the globe, including three International Symposiums on the Shroud. This paper includes a summary of the material from her 1993 presentation at the Rome International Symposium. This paper includes 19 illustrations and will take a few minutes to load the first time you visit.

Is the Shroud of Turin More Likely Ancient or Medieval Based on Textile Evidence? What do the Scholars Say? - by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - February 16, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the article: "One of the focal points regarding the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the actual burial cloth of Jesus, is whether the textile evidence clearly indicates whether it fits with ancient times, including the 1st century, in which Jesus lived, or with a medieval milieu, which includes the 13th/14th century, in which some people believe the Shroud originated based on the infamous 1988 C-14 dating that has been beset with controversy. Does it perhaps fit into both periods, and/or more toward one than the other?"

Is the Shroud of Turin the Actual Burial Cloth of Jesus? by Larry Stalley – Academia.edu – 2020 [1 June 2020]

Here is the abstract: “Most people perceive the Shroud of Turin to be a medieval fake. But more and more people are arriving at a vastly different conclusion. This paper will present evidence for authenticity and will attempt to explain why the Shroud of Turin is likely the actual burial cloth that once covered the corpse of Jesus.”

Is the Sudarium of Oviedo the key to unraveling the mystery of the Shroud of Turin? by Louis C. de Figueiredo - Academia.edu - April 5, 2015 [6 May 2015]

Here is an excerpt: "The Sudarium of Oviedo is a little-known relic preserved in the Camara Santa of the Cathedral of San Salvador, Oviedo, in the Asturias region of northern Spain. It is displayed three times a year, on Good Friday, the feast of the Triumph of the Cross (14th September) and its octave (21st September)…"

Is the Turin Shroud Compatible with a First Century Jerusalem Burial?--Some Jewish Perspectives by Joe Marino - Academia.edu - 2020. [30 June 2021]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "If the Turin Shroud (TS) is authentic, i.e., the burial cloth of the historical Jesus, it would have had to originate in first century Jerusalem, all the time and place of Jesus' death. Oceans of ink have been spilled explaining how the Shroud matches (or doesn't) to the gospel accounts of the burial as well as the known Jewish burial customs at the time…"

Italian Commission Report on the Shroud of Turin, 1973 (English translation of original Italian language report) - Giorgio Bracaglia - Holy Shroud Guild Archives

This 1976 report begins with an Introduction by Rev. Pietro Caramello, who was the Pastor of the Turin Cathedral during the 1978 STURP examination. Thanks to Giorgio, this rare English language translation of the important, original Italian language report is now readily available on the internet. A "must read" for any serious Shroud scholar.

John P. Jackson and the Shroud of Turin Research Project - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - August 31, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"I recently wrote articles titled "Raymond N. Rogers and the Shroud of Turin and "Alan D. Adler and the Shroud of Turin." Both Rogers and Adler were members of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), which studied the Shroud for five days and 120 consecutive hours in 1978. Their main objective was to determine how the image on the cloth was formed. Despite using the best science and technology available in the late 1970s, they were unable to determine how it was done and ultimately concluded that the image was not the product of an artist. Ph.D. theoretical physicist John P. Jackson was the co-founder of STURP (and gave it the name) and is still active in Shroud research. He and Jewish-born wife Rebecca currently are directors of the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado…"

Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and the Turin Shroud (Abstract) by Professor Daniel Scavone

A brief overview of the fascinating premise that the burial shroud of Jesus was the original object underlying the legends of the Holy Grail. Professor Scavone is a noted historian, Shroud researcher and author whose detailed paper on this subject is soon to be published in a professional journal. This abstract was originally presented at the 1996 Esopus Conference. The full version of the paper is no longer available. Italian language translation by Fabio Quadrini.

Jospice Mattress Cover Image, The by Frederick Zugibe, M.D., Ph.D. (.pdf format) [342k] [November 2007] (11 Illustrations)

The Jospice mattress cover image is the detailed imprint of a dead man that was left on his mattress after he died. This previously unpublished paper documents the author's in-depth scientific study of this fascinating object and the image it bears.

The Key role of Biblical Archaeology in Exegesis: An interview with Professor Israel Finkelstein by Louis C. de Figueiredo. Academia.edu. Published online: Jan 2016. Here are the opening paragraphs:

"'If the historical faith of Israel is not founded in history, such a faith is erroneous, and therefore, our faith is also.' So wrote Father Roland de Vaux, the French Dominican archaeologist who excavated Qumran and was the first editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These words were written in the last century, when there were not so many excavations in Israel as there are today. What we see today is that many, but not all, of these excavations demonstrate that text and spade can and do point in different directions. If archaeology, therefore, is allowed to tell its own story some parts of biblical history will require rethinking, particularly when it come to some well-known biblical figures and even events. This is the inevitable result when there is juxtaposing of the biblical record and archaeological data. It does not signify the end of faith. It can only mean that mature faith will be needed."

Key Statements about the Turin Shroud as a Textile by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - May 27, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "…I recently wrote an article titled "Analysis of the Turin Shroud as a Textile - a Bibliography." Since it is a bibliography, it takes some work on the part of a reader to go through all of the available material, I thought it would be useful to excerpt some of the more significant statements made by various experts and authors…"

The Kuznetsov Dossier Part 1: Dmitry Kuznetsov, the Imaginary Scientist (2013 updated translation) by Gian Marco Rinaldi - The original Report was published in Italian in 2002. [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the introduction: "In autumn 2000, while I was conducting a critical review of studies on the Shroud of Turin, I got in touch by mail with Dmitry A. Kuznetsov, a Moscow biochemist who in recent years has been a champion of the cause of the "sindonologists" (the supporters of the authenticity of the Shroud, a relic which they suppose to be the burial cloth of Jesus). After the linen of the Shroud has been radiocarbon dated in 1988 and assigned to the Middle Ages, he claimed to have experimentally demonstrated that the radiocarbon date was wrong and that the relic could actually be more ancient and could date from the time of Christ. He stood out, among other sindonologists, for having published his experimental reports, between 1994 and 1996, in high level scientific journals."

The Kuznetsov Dossier Part 2: Fraud in Experimental Reports (2013 updated translation) by Gian Marco Rinaldi - The original Report was published in Italian in 2002. [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the author's foreword: "I present the results of an inquiry I have conducted about presumed cases of fraud in experimental reports published by the biochemist Dmitry A. Kuznetsov. It shall always be understood that when speaking of a possible fraud, we refer only to what is defined as "scientific fraud," i.e. a behavior that, save for exceptions, is not liable to criminal prosecution."

Language and Sensibility of Research Papers in Sindonology, The by Agnes Sam  (.pdf format) [33k]

This article discusses the language and semantics used by sindonologists. The author suggests there has been a lack of consistency in the language sindonologists use to describe the 'man' on the Shroud, and consequently, a resulting lack of respect for the spiritual and religious aspects of the image. She recommends the adoption of a style sheet to encourage this consistency and presents her own suggestions to sindonologists for just such a style sheet. Agnes is open to discuss her ideas with interested viewers and encourages scholars to write her directly with their comments. A link to her e-mail address is included at the end of the article.

Lectures in Spain, Italy and Poland - April 2011 - A Personal Report by Barrie Schwortz

Schwortz spent much of April 2011 lecturing about the Shroud and representing STERA, Inc. at various schools and universities in Europe. This article describes the trip and shares his rather personal perspective on it.

Legal and Medical Aspects of the Trial and Death of Christ, The by Robert Bucklin, M.D., J.D. - Azerbaijanian language translation by Amir Abbasov; Czech language translation by Ivana Horak [7 November 2020]; French language translation by Jean-Etienne Bergemer; Russian language translation by Oleg Lukin at ResumeCoversCV [21 January 2019]; Ukainian language translation by Sandi Wolfe at Open Source Initiative.

A noted Shroud researcher, forensic pathologist and attorney, Dr. Bucklin applies the rules of evidence to the Gospel accounts of the trial of Jesus in this fascinating article. He compares the image on the Shroud of Turin to the written descriptions of the crucifixion and reaches some interesting conclusions. The article first appeared in the January 1970 edition of Medicine, Science and the Law.

Lepton coin diameters and a circular image on the Shroud of Turin by J.F. Thackeray, Shroud.com, 23 May 2019.

Here is a relevant excerpt: "Jumper et al (1978) suggested that two circular objects (apparently with a diameter of approximately 14 mm) were recognizable over the eyes of the person represented on the Shroud. It has been suggested by others (Filas 1982; Fontanille 2001; Whanger and Whanger 1985) that the objects might be coins. This was followed by image analyses which claimed (controversially) that inscriptions could be identified, as well as the image of a lituus or crook that was minted on coins in the time when Pontius Pilate was procurator, associated with a date of circa 30 AD (Filas, 1982; Fontanille, 2001)."

"Let no one who is not a mathematician read my principles" - Scientific notes on the book (by Andrea Nicolotti), 'The Shroud of Turin: the history and legends of the world's most famous relic' by Paolo Di Lazzaro - Academia.edu - December 29, 2020. [21 January 2021] Here is a link to the original, Italian language version. Here is the online description:

"This article is a collection of notes on some scientific statements in the recently released book by the historian Andrea Nicolotti on the Shroud of Turin."

The Lier Shroud and Lucas Cranach the Elder by Pam Moon - Italian language translation by Fabio Quadrini .

Recently published on Pam's Shroud of Turin Exhibition website [7 June 2014]. "This paper argues that the artist who created the Shroud of Turin copy known as the Lier (or Lierre) Shroud may be Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)... It examines the signature on the Shroud and compares it with the different ways Cranach signed his name."

Life-size Reproduction of the Shroud of Turin and its Image by Luigi Garlaschelli

This paper was published in the Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, July/August 2010, Volume 54, Issue 4, pp. 040301-(14) (Abstract Only).

Editor's Note: In October 2009, in response to a major media release by Professor Garlachelli claiming he had "reproduced" the Shroud image, I wrote and published an editorial titled Science By Press Release? In it I was critical of the fact that scientific claims are rarely if ever released to a major media outlet BEFORE being published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, as was the case with Professor Garlaschelli's work. His original press release stated that the article would be published in such a journal "next week" Now, almost a year later, his work has finally been published in the above journal. You might also wish to read Comments About the Recent Experiment of Professor Luigi Garlaschelli by Thibault Heimburger. For this article, Thibault consulted directly with Professor Garlaschelli and provides a detailed overview of his techniques, along with a point by point comparison between Garlaschelli's results and the image on the Shroud (November 2009) (Full Paper Available).

Lighting the Shroud of Turin for Exhibition in 2015 by P. Iacomussi, M. Radis, F. Valpreda, G. Rossi & P. Di Lazzaro - Studies in Conservation, Vol. 63, pages 127-131, 11 September 2018. This paper is behind a pay wall. Here is the abstract:

"Lighting a cultural heritage artifact requires balancing visual perception with preventive conservation, by providing the best lighting (in terms of spectral distribution and quantity) to enable the viewer to appreciate details and color, while limiting photo-induced degradation. The paper outlines the methodology applied by a multi-disciplinary team while lighting the Shroud of Turin at its last public exhibition in 2015. The methodology considered the special requirements of the Shroud, including exposure to ultraviolet light, while providing appropriate display conditions that would meet audience expectations. The desired appearance (readability of the body image and color) was defined with the help of Shroud researchers and confirmed by subjective tests, while appropriate light levels for preservation were set in agreement with standard requirements and using knowledge of the degradation of linen in visible and UV light. The installation provided a controlled environment and a managed visitor route to the Shroud, assuring excellent perception of both details and color, with the lowest illuminance level about 15 lx."

Linen Coloration by Pulsed Radiation. A Review by Paolo Di Lazzaro - Slides of presentation made at the International Conference on the Shroud of Turin, Pasco, Washington - July 22, 2017 [21 January 2019]

Here is the introduction: "In 2010, the first laboratory demonstration of a Shroud-like coloration at the microscopic level by using very short and intense bursts of Vacuum Ultraviolet radiation attracted a worldwide attention from media. It is time to rewind the tape and put those experimental results in their proper context: namely, the motivations of the work, the search for the optimum (but difficult to achieve) working point, the photo-chemistry clues, the reliability of the results, the scaling up from coloration to image production, what our results have really shown from a strictly scientific point of view, what are the implications in other areas such as philosophy, religion and metaphysics, what journalists (and some scientists too) have misunderstood. In this frame, the talk proposes a fascinating trip in 10 years of experimental efforts, intuitions, insights, accomplishments, disappointments, controversies. In three words, “the scientific method” …applied to a metaphysics question..." [Editor's Note: We have also added this link on our Pasco Conference page].

A link between the Turin Shroud and the Knights Templar? Master Brother Widekind's seals show a Shroud-like Christ face by Louis C. de Figueiredo - Academia.edu, December 2015. Here is the opening paragraph:

In his book The Shroud: Fresh light on the 2000-year-old mystery, English historian Ian Wilson argues persuasively why the Turin Shroud was likely to have been in the possession of the Crusader Order of Knights Templar for some decades. In his words, “With an efficient support structure of clerks and servitors, the Order was able to act as guardians, traders and pawnbrokers for the flourishing trade in relics, genuine and false alike, that ensued after the Fourth Crusade. Thus, the means of acquiring the Image of Edessa/Shroud were in place. Also, the well-distributed and heavily guarded Templar monastery-fortresses provided suitable means for keeping the cloth’s whereabouts secret for a considerable period.”

List of Current Shroud of Turin Researchers, Their Backgrounds, and Stances Regarding Authenticity by Joseph G. Marino (January 10, 2024). Excerpts from the introduction:

“For this article, I wanted to indicate what position each researcher professes regarding the origin of the cloth .… There are many more researchers to add. I’m hoping that publishing it now will encourage those not on the list to send me their information so as to be added to the list. If a researcher is on this list and corrections to the data needs to be made, please let me know at JMarino240@aol.com. The article will, of course, be updated as needed and/or more information is gathered directly from researchers themselves.”

The long journey of the Turin Shroud retold by DNA by Gianni Barcaccia - Researchgate.net - October 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the article: "…As part of a research project financed by the University of Padua, samples of genomic DNA isolated from organic residues of various origins were analysed. These came from dust aspirated in 1978 from the back of the Shroud, in correspondence with different parts of the body image, and from portions taken from the side edge used in 1988 for radiocarbon dating of the Shroud. The experimental procedure consisted of several phases based on specific protocols for sequencing specific genes and intergenic regions of the chloroplast DNA (from plant species) and mitochondrial DNA (from animal and human origin), in order to identify the presence of environmental and individual contaminations from any form of organism which came into contact with the Shroud over the centuries…"

Long-Term Temperature Effects on the Natural Linen Aging of the Turin Shroud by Liberato De Caro, César Barta, Giulio Fanti, Emilio Matricciani, Teresa Sibillano and Cinzia Giannini - Information Special Issue - Techniques and Data Analysis in Cultural Heritage - September 28, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "In 2021, Wide-angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) was applied to a sample of the Turin Shroud as a new method for dating ancient linen threads by inspecting their structural degradation. The major result of the research was to estimate the natural aging of the linen of the Shroud, through which it was found to be compatible with the hypothesis of a 2000-year-old relic, and not a medieval fabric. The present work regards the theoretical natural aging of the linen versus different alleged historical-geographical paths of the Shroud through cities where the presence of icons of Jesus Christ is attested…"

The Loros, the Epitaphios and the Shroud of Turin by Pam Moon and Joanne Bywater – Academia.edu – July 22, 2020. [7 November 2020] - Here is the introduction:

“The emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, chose to depict themselves wearing the loros, a long cloth which they wound around their body. The loros represented the burial shroud or winding sheet of Jesus. As this is such an unusual thing to imagine, it is possible that they had seen and had in their possession a cloth, which could be the burial cloth of Jesus. Although the loros was depicted at coronations and weddings it was actually worn on Easter Sunday and on the Feast of the Transfiguration in the presence of Saracen visitors. In Constantine VII Flavius Porphyrogenitus’s description of the liturgy of Easter Sunday inThe Book of Ceremonies; he described putting on the loroi and entering the sanctuary of Hagia Sophia. The sanctuary had a fourteen-foot long altar. Constantine reported personally changing the altar-cloth in the sanctuary on Good Friday and Easter Saturday; an act which would appear to be an unusual duty for an emperor. This altar-cloth liturgy may be the origins of the use of the Epitaphios in worship. Constantine also recounted kissing the raised tablion, a term associated with the altar-cloth. Constantine VII and Romanos II created numerous artistic depictions of Jesus. The likeness of Jesus has resonance with the image of Jesus seen on the Shroud of Turin. This paper argues that Constantine VII protected and venerated the Shroud of Turin, and attributed his authority to rule to its existence.”

The Maillard reaction in an ancient linen cloth can yield a “stochastic-like effect” image by Yannick Clement, Giovanni Fazio and Giuseppe Mandaglio, Chemistry Today, Vol. 34, November 2016. Here is the Abstract:

"Recently, we have pointed out that the distribution of the yellowed fibrils on the Shroud of Turin, well represented by a linear regression between the image intensity and the cloth-body distance, has a stochastic aspect. In this paper, by a preliminary approach, we show that the chemical reaction between reducing sugar coming from the linen manufacturing procedure (mainly composed of crude starch and possibly also Saponaria officinalis) and some specific post-mortem gases like ammonia and/or diamines that could have been released by the corpse who was enveloped in the Shroud can yield a “stochastic-like effect” image. Moreover, we think the above reaction could also explain why the body image on the Shroud is a unicum."

The Mandylions in Genoa and Rome: On the Authenticity of Christ's True Image in Counter-Reformation Italy by Andrew Casper – Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies – May 2021 [8 May 2022] – Here is the online description:

“This essay recovers the dialectics of authenticity informed by the reinvigorated emergence of the Mandylion of Edessa as an authorized early Christian relic in Counter-Reformation Italy. The original was a miraculously generated icon of Christ's face which later became a major devotional artifact in Constantinople during the Byzantine period. However, by the seventeenth century two celebrated images of Christ's face, at San Bartolomeo degli Armeni in Genoa and San Silvestro in Capite in Rome, made simultaneous claims to be the original Mandylion…”

The Man of the Shroud of Turin: Is He Dead or Alive? by Bernardo Hontanilla Calatayud – Scientia et Fides – March 8, 2022 [8 May 2022] – (Full text is behind a paywall). Here is the abstract:

“It has been assumed that the person represented on the Shroud of Turin is dead and the image corresponds to a person dead from crucifixion. We have conducted an analysis of the cadaveric data of a body and the presence of face life signs and we could think that the image could corresponds to a living person. Therefore, it might correspond to a man starting a getting up gesture. If we examine the Gospels, a remarkable symmetry is found between the data obtained from the image and the events described in the Gospels, regarding the death and resurrection of Jesus.”

Man Of The Shroud Was Washed, The by Frederick T. Zugibe, M.D., Ph.D.

This paper provides a scientific basis for the hypothesis that the Man of the Shroud had been washed prior to placement on the Shroud. Dr. Zugibe is a professor of anatomy and the Senior Medical Examiner of Rockland County, New York. His studies are based on the analysis of antemortem and postmortem blood flow patterns on cadavers and their comparison to those on the Shroud. A number of relevant facets of scripture and Jewish customs are also discussed. This article first appeared in Sindon N. S. in 1989. Three somewhat graphic photographs accompany the article. Parental Discretion Advised.

Mapping of Research Test Point Areas on the Shroud of Turin by Barrie M. Schwortz

Includes eight Ventral and Dorsal Photographic Maps of the Shroud indicating areas where data was taken during four of the 1978 experiments. As the Official Documenting Photographer for STURP the author devised the system of magnetic marker photo-documentation used to create these experiment maps. This is a reprint of the entire text of the 1982 IEEE paper in HTML format. The photographic Test-Point Maps were rescanned from the original 4" x 5" negatives and the data points color enhanced specifically for this website. This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

This is a link to the original PDF version: Mapping of Research Test-Point Areas on the Shroud of Turin

Mark Antonacci's Reply To Ray Rogers' Review of His Book  (.pdf format) [85k]

Mark Antonacci responds to Ray Rogers' review of his book, "The Resurrection of the Shroud."

Click here to read the original review: Comments on 'The Resurrection of the Shroud' by Mark Antonacci by Ray Rogers

The Max Frei 1978 Sticky Tape Locations, Data Foundation and Accompanying Critical-Analytical Commentary by Paul C. Maloney

Sadly, this is Paul Maloney's final paper, published posthumously on 8 October 2018. It includes the final version of the map he had created that accurately documented the source areas on the Shroud where Max Frei took his tape samples in 1978. The maps were based in part on the photo-documentation images taken of Frei by Barrie Schwortz during the 1978 examination.

Mechanical Characterization of Linen Fibers: The Turin Shroud Dating by Giulio Fanti and Roberto Basso - International Journal of Reliability, Quality and Safety Engineering, Volume 24, Issue 02, April 2017. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"As the 1988 radiocarbon dating of the Turin Shroud (TS) was debatable also from a statistical point of view, new dating methods have been proposed. This paper presents the result of an improved mechanical dating. A recent cyclic-load machine has been improved to better fix fibers under test by using a special support designed for the purpose. The mechanical behavior of linen fibers of three different ages are measured and compared discussing these results in reference to the complex structure of aged linen fibers; the three samples are a linen fiber from an Egyptian mummy of 27th Century B.C.; a linen fiber coming from the TS, and a recent linen fiber."

Medical News From Scientific Analysis of the Turin Shroud by M. Bevilacqua and M. D’Arienzo - MATEC Web of Conferences 36, January 2015. [8 June 2017] Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"This paper synthetizes a series of works recently published in reference to medical studies regarding both the physical conditions of the Man who was wrapped in the Turin Shroud (TS) and the tortures to which this Man was subjected. An event that influenced the rapid course of the Passion and the cause of death of the TS Man was the fall under the weight of the cross. This Man shows, on the right side, shoulder lowering, flat hand and henophthalmos, revealing a violent blunt trauma, from behind, to neck, chest and shoulder, with the entire brachial plexus injury and muscular damage to the neck bottom with the head bent forward and turned to the left, on the cross, as he had a stiff neck."

Medieval artists, Anachronisms and the Shroud of Turin by Pamela Moon - Academia.edu – November 18, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the introduction: "Could an artist have created the Shroud of Turin in the Middle Ages? This paper suggests it would not have been possible. Given the existing technologies, they would not have had the foresight. Using the image Thamar and Apprentice from the manuscript De Cleres et Nobles Femmes by Giovanni Boccaccio (1361-62), the paper examines the knowledge base of medieval artists and argues they would not have made an image which is a photographic negative or one which has three-dimensional properties. To suggest otherwise is anachronistic."

The Medieval Shroud Part 1 - The beginning of an exploration into its Purpose, Process and Provenance by Hugh Farey, Academia.edu, 20 February 2018.

Here is a relevant excerpt: "Almost every publication on the Shroud of Turin so far has mostly concerned itself with whether or not the sheet in the cathedral of John the Baptist is truly the burial cloth of Christ, and a discussion of the evidence in favour (material, anatomical, literary and artistic, and a general incredulity that medieval manufacture was possible) and against (mostly the radiocarbon dating of 1988, and the paucity of historical and archaeological provenance). Until the turn of the century much was made of attempts to replicate the Shroud image 'naturally,' authenticists deriving it from chemical or physical emanations from a dead body, and medievalists from the application of some kind of colouring agent. The former have largely abandoned their efforts now, simply accepting a miracle, while the latter continue, sporadically, to improve. Current authenticist work mostly concentrates on attempts to disprove the radiocarbon dating, so far with minimal success. This paper distances itself almost entirely from that debate..."

The Medieval Shroud Part 2 - No Case for Authenticity - A thorough analysis of all the evidence by Hugh Farey, Academia.edu, February 2019.

Here is the author's description: "A follow-up to THE MEDIEVAL SHROUD, this time being a thorough review of all the evidence alleged to provide support for the hypothesis that the Shroud of Turin is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus Christ. It will be seen that this evidence is inconsistent and contradictory, and cannot be considered reasonable validation of the hypothesis."

Microscopical Investigation of Selected Raes Threads from the Shroud of Turin by John L. Brown  (.pdf format) [190k] [January 2005]

John L. Brown was the Principal Research Scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute's Energy and Materials Sciences Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology until his retirement in 1984. He is an expert microscopist specializing in the field of forensic analysis of material failures, and was enlisted by Ray Rogers to examine samples of selected Raes threads taken from the Shroud in 1973. These threads are important because they were taken from the area immediately adjoining the sample used for carbon 14 analysis of the Shroud in 1988. In this article, John provides an independent review of the samples he examined, along with seven previously unpublished photomicrographs and scanning electron microscope views that supplement and support the conclusions drawn by Ray in his recent peer reviewed paper, "Studies on the radiocarbon sample from the Shroud of Turin," Thermochimica Acta Vol. 425, Issues 1-2, 20 January 2005, Pages 189-194.

Microscopic and Macroscopic Characteristics of the Shroud of Turin Image Superficiality by G. Fanti, J. A. Botella, P. Di Lazzaro, T. Heimburger, R. Schneider & N. Svensson

Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, July/August 2010, Volume 54, Issue 4, pp. 040201-(8).

The Missing Corners and the Radiocarbon date of the Shroud of Turin by Pam Moon

Recently published on Pam's Shroud of Turin Exhibition website [7 June 2014]. "This paper looks at the mystery of the missing corners on the Shroud of Turin. Two corners were removed at some time and two are intact... This paper argues that the corners were removed because of water damage from douse water used to put out the fire that partially burned the Shroud in 1532. The contaminated douse water led to the formation of mould and bacteria on the cloth."

Mr. Dotman in Lineland by Robert A. Rucker, October 6, 2016. Academia.edu. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:

"This is a short fictional story of Mr. Dotman in Lineland to convey what is meant by a transition into an alternate dimensionality. This concept has application to the Shroud of Turin to help explain what may have happened, in physics terms, when Jesus' body disappeared from within the Shroud..." Use this link for the latest version of this article: List of Papers by Robert Rucker on his Shroud Research Net website

More On The Roman Flagrum As Barbed Whip by William Meacham (May 7, 2024). Here is an excerpt from the article:

“Back in November of 2022, when I wrote this paper: www.academia.edu/89911497/On_Nicolotti_the_Flagrum_and_the_Shroud I assumed that there wasn’t much more that needed or could be said on the subject, until new data was forthcoming. To my mind it was a fairly compelling case, and clear rebuttal of some of the claims made by Nicolotti. His main thesis – that there is no evidence of a Roman flagrum that would have made the marks on the Shroud – while technically still accurate seems very weak, given the circumstantial evidence…”

Most Notable Figures in Shroud of Turin Research of the 20th and 21st Centuries, The by Joe Marino – Academia.edu – October 1, 2021. [22 November 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“Since the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to the actual burial cloth of the historical Jesus, is arguably the most intensely-studied artifact in human history, it’s obvious that numerous scientists and researchers have spent numerous hours analyzing this mysterious cloth. There is actually a technical term for those who study the Shroud: “Sindonologists,” from the Greek word sindon, basically meaning “linen cloth.” It would be almost impossible to list everyone that has been involved, but I will list the scientists and researchers that I believe have been the most notable, with only brief descriptions of their involvement…”

Most Significant Events in the History of the Shroud of Turin Since 1898, The by Joe Marino – Academia.edu – September 28, 2021. [22 November 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“Many articles on the Shroud of Turin usually mention 1898 as one of the key dates in the saga of the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the actual cloth used to wrap Jesus after his crucifixion. It was when the first photographs of the Shroud were taken. Thus it is often termed as the beginning of the modern history of the cloth. I have followed suit in this article…”

The Most Significant Post-1960s Journal Articles on the Shroud of Turin -- a Bibliography by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - June 15, 2022 [31 August 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the online description: "This is a revised, updated, and re-titled version of my article, "Peer-Reviewed Papers on the Shroud of Turin - a Bibliography." (That article will remain for archival purposes and cross-referencing.) The reason for doing this is that I received an email from an archaeologist involved in Shroud research. He wrote to me: … [I] looked up the publisher of "Heritage." This is what their website says: "MDPI currently publishes 386 peer-reviewed journals." I thought that is incredible, and a sure sign of predatory publishing…"

Multi-parametric micro-mechanical dating of single fibers coming from ancient flax textiles by Giulio Fanti and Pierandrea Malfi

Textile Research Journal, November 21, 2013. Abstract free. Full article available for purchase. [21 January 2014]

Musings Regarding the Shroud of Turin - Including "How is it that Practically Everyone Thinks They're an Authority? by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - December 10, 2022 [21 JAN 2023] - Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"I have studied the Shroud of Turin for over forty-five years and innumerable hours. I have read all the major works on it in the English language. I have written two books and dozens of articles about it. I have made presentations at international conferences and know some of the scientists that did hands-on testing of it. I have one of the largest personal English-language collections of Shroud materials in the world and make it a point to scour the Internet for the latest information constantly. The Shroud is something I think about a lot. It is a solitary focus in my life. Hence, my hopefully-catchy title has made you curious…"

The Mysterious Coexistence of Bloodstains and Body Image on the Shroud of Turin Explained by a Stochastic Process by G. Fazio, Y. Clement and G. Mandaglio

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry journal Vol.14, No. 2 - June 2014 [5 October 2014].

The Mysteries of the Shroud of Turin by Robert A. Rucker – Materials Evaluation, Volume 80, Issue 2 – February 1, 2022 [8 May 2022] – (Full text is behind a paywall). Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“In 1931, a professional photographer named Giuseppe Enri pointed his camera at a piece of cloth called the Shroud of Turin. How was this image formed? When was it made? Who made it? Is this an image of a real person? Could this be an image of the man known as Jesus Christ? Could this be the authentic burial cloth of Jesus? These are just a few of the questions that arise. This article provides an overview of the Shroud, including its images, history, materials, and previous testing…”

Natural Factors Affecting the Apparent Radiocarbon Age of Textiles by Mario Moroni and Remi van Haelst

The authors present a series of experiments and a statistical analysis of the Carbon dating that concludes "the C14 content may not be the same over the whole surface of the Shroud" and that "a single radiocarbon dating result... cannot be regarded as conclusive evidence for a mediaeval date for the Shroud of Turin." This article originally appeared in Shroud News No. 100 (February 1997). Remi van Haelst also presented another paper titled "The Lier Shroud" at the May 1997 Nice Symposium.

Natural Textile Fibres - Optical Activity, Racemization and Epimerization by Dr. Silvio Diana and Prof. Emanuela Marinelli Paolicchi

This paper was first presented at the May 1997 Nice Symposium in Nice, France and can also be reached via the "Shroud Conferences & Symposia" page of this website. It establishes the validity of and suggests a protocol for further research into the chemical and optical properties of cellulose, the fundamental ingredient of linen.

Nature of the Body Images on the Shroud of Turin, The by Alan D. Adler  (.pdf format) [34k]

(From the 1999 Richmond Conference)

The Nazarene's Self-Image by a Natural Process by Giovanni Fazio - Global Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology, Vol 12 Issue 3, August 10, 2022 [31 August 2022]

Here is the abstract: "XX Century ago, in Jerusalem (Roman province of Judaea) a supernatural event happened: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene. An event instantly (Miracle) that is, obviously, indecipherable for the Natural Sciences. All this happened while the Burial Linen remained imageless on the stone in the tomb. In fact, in the four Gospels, no one mentioned an image on the above funerary sheet. It appears only after the latency time typical of one stochastic process. A long time, years or decades, that begins with the thermal energy emission from the corpse of the Nazarene (the only source present in a 1st century sepulcher) and ends with the formation of His self-image. The latter, most likely, is the first in history."

Negativity and the Shroud by M. Sue Benford, R.N., M.A.

This article presents the author's perspective on the negativity aspect of the Shroud. It was previously published in The Holy Shroud Guild Newsletter, December 1997, pp. 4-5.

New Detail Observed on the Shroud of Turin, A by Reginald Wehrkamp-Richter

From News of the Association Jean Carmignac, N° 50, June 2011 page 5-9. Using a scientific approach and careful observation, the author presents evidence for the discovery of triangular shape within one of the Shroud bloodstains which he identifies as the head of a Roman nail. A version of the article is also available in French at Un nouveau détail observé sur le Saint Linceul de Turin. (Editor's Note: Although this article is primarily scientific in nature, it concludes on a strong religious note). [Jan 2012]

New Historical Evidence Explaining the ‘Invisible Patch’ in the 1988 C-14 Sample Area of the Turin Shroud by M. Sue Benford & Joseph G. Marino  (.pdf format) [44k] [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference)

In this important followup article to their previous work, Sue and Joe provide additional historical background and new evidence for their "invisible mending" theory.

New Light on the Leptons by Hugh Farey - Skeptics and Seekers Wordpress.com - 2019. [30 June 2021]

Here is the introduction: "Much has been written concerning the possibility that marks derived from coins over the eyes of the man in the Shroud prove that it must be an authentic first century burial cloth. Those who think them genuine have identified an unusual version of a specific coin, minted only in a specific year, and claim to have discovered coins still extant carrying the same imperfections. Others think that the marks are insufficiently clear for positive identification. Until now, the question has been one of individual perception, and thus difficult to prove either way, but a recent study of the area of the right eye as photographed by Haltadefinizione has settled the question beyond doubt."

New Light on the Sufferings and the Burial of the Turin Shroud Man by Matteo Bevilacqua, Giulio Fanti and Michele D’Arienzo - Peertechz Open Journal of Trauma, published May 19, 2017. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"This paper presents news concerning the transportation of the whole cross on the shoulders and the falling mode of the Turin Shroud (TS) Man on the ground that explains the detected traumas. These news base themselves on the hypothesis that the TS Man is Jesus of Nazareth."

New Radiocarbon Hypothesis by John Jackson, A by John Jackson  (.pdf format) [11k] [May 2008]

David Rolfe's 2008 BBC documentary features physicist John Jackson, co-founder of the 1978 STURP team and founder of the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado, and discusses his new hypothesis regarding the 1988 radiocarbon dating of the Shroud, based on possible c14 enrichment of linen due to the CO (carbon monoxide) in the atmosphere. According to Jackson, a 2% contamination could skew the resulting date by as much as 1400 years. Rather than attempt to describe Jackson's theory myself, I asked John to write a short article to describe it in his own words.

The Nexus between Faith and Science in Sindonology: an English-Language Bibliography by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - February 26, 2023

Here is an excerpt from the article: "…This article aims to provide some sources that address the relationship between faith and science in the study of the Shroud. There have been, in fact, several Shroud conferences in recent times that inserted the topic into the name of their conference…"

Non-destructive dating of ancient flax textiles by means of vibrational spectroscopy by Giulio Fanti, Pietro Baraldi, Roberto Basso and Anna Tinti Abstract Only [May 2013]

This controversial article appeared in Vibrational Spectroscopy, Volume 67, July 2013, Pages 61–70 and used FT-IR and Raman analyses to date ancient flax textiles.

Nondestructive Testing of the Shroud of Turin: Project STURP by Eric J. Jumper, Robert W. "Bill" Mottern and John P. Jackson - 1979 - (Previously unpublished) [30 Sept 2021] - Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"If one were to sit down and try to put together a team of scientists to perform a comprehensive battery of tests on the revered Shroud of Turin, and if one were given no restraints as to time or money then perhaps the group would approach the level of expertise and competence of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP )..."

Noninvasive analyses of low-contrast images on ancient textiles: The case of the Shroud of Arquata by Paolo Di Lazzaro, Massimiliano Guarneri, Daniele Murra, Valeria Spizzichino, Alessandro Danielis, Arianna Mencattini, Veronica Piraccini and Mauro Missori - Journal of Cultural Heritage - vol. 17, pp. 14-19 (2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.culher.2015.07.008. Here is the abstract:

We present the results of the first in-depth measurements of the linen cloth of the shroud of Arquata, a precious copy of the Shroud of Turin, which dates back to 1653. The measurements aimed at finding the nature of the faint and low-contrast body impressions on the linen cloth, which are not produced by drawings or paintings as in the other copies of the Shroud of Turin. In general, the optical analysis and the imaging of low-contrast stains on ancient textiles is a complex task, due to the irregular surface and the influence of spectrum, position and uniformity of the illuminating source on colour accuracy and rendition. A correct evaluation requires a multidisciplinary approach. We used noninvasive technologies, including imaging topological radar, laser induced fluorescence, absolute diffused reflectance and absorption spectra, which were previously used to study frescoes, paintings, antique papers, but were never exploited on ancient textiles. The combined results of our measurements and data elaboration allowed identifying the origins of the body impressions, of the stains simulating blood and of the other marks embedded on the linen cloth. Our results can be used to plan the proper long-term conservation of the linen cloth and of marks on it.

Notable Quotations about the Shroud of Turin by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - May 18, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "…I thought it might be useful to list some of most notable quotations made over the Shroud's history. I have tried to list all the major ones and/or the ones over the years that have stood out to me. They will limited to two categories: pro-authenticity or unsolved and anti-authenticity. (Those who say it is unsolved tend to be more open to it being authentic than leaning toward believing it will be solved). I will list in each category and in chronological order the source and quotation…"

Nuclear Medicine and Its Relevance to the Shroud of Turin by August D. Accetta, M.D.  (.pdf format) [326k]

Originally titled "Experiments with Radiation as an Image Formation Mechanism" when first presented at the 1999 Richmond Conference. This link is to the updated version of this paper that Dr. Accetta presented in August 2000 at the Sindone 2000 Shroud Conference in Orvieto, Italy. Fully illustrated with color and black & white photographs.

Nuclear Radiation and the Shroud: Head Image by August Accetta, M.D., Kenneth Lyons, M.D., John Heiserodt, M.D., PhD., John P. Jackson, PhD., Blair Farley, M.A. - From the 3rd International Dallas Conference on the Shroud of Turin - September 8-11, 2005. Here is the Abstract:

"Previous studies using the collection of vertically aligned gamma radiation were able to convincingly demonstrate many specific similarities between nuclear images and Shroud images. The current study builds upon the foundation of these previous studies, however, with important modifications of technique, notably, summations of the coronal planes. Many of the complex and subtle details of the head and face images seen on the Shroud are elucidated, both qualitatively and quantitatively." [Editor's Note: We have also added a link to this article on the 2005 Dallas Conference page].

Objections to the Shroud's Authenticity: The Radiocarbon Date by Prof. Daniel Scavone (.pdf format) [13k]

The author's perspective on the Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud. Originally delivered at the Texas Medieval Association in 1993.

Observations on the Turin Shroud 1988 C-14 Dating from the Correspondences of the Archaeologist Paul C. Maloney by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - July 10, 2022 [31 August 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "The late Paul C. Maloney (d. 2018) was one of the most respected researchers in Shroud research… I had, and preserved, various correspondences with Paul in the form of letters and emails spanning over thirty-five years. The correspondences were either to me alone, to multiple researchers or to another person for which Paul or that person sent me a copy. Paul and I also had many phone conversations. He was quite knowledgeable in most aspects of Sindonology. This article will be limited to his observations regarding the Shroud's controversial C-14 dating…"

On Cleaning Methods and the Raw Radiocarbon Data from the Shroud of Turin by Larry Schwalbe and Bryan Walsh - International Journal of Archaeology 2021; 9(1): 10-16 - March 12, 2021. [30 June 2021]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "Among the more recent of coordinated studies of the Shroud was a radiocarbon dating of excised samples. The results, published in 1989, place the origin of the cloth to sometime in or around the 14th century. The objective of the present study is to survey the cleaning methods (or pretreatments) that were applied to the samples removed for the radiocarbon study. Specifically, we explore the extent to which these methods may have given rise to a peculiar structure in the "raw" radiocarbon data published in 2019."

The Ongoing Historical Debate About the Shroud of Turin: The Case of the Pray Codex by Tristan Casabianca - The Heythrop Journal - February 27, 2021. [30 June 2021]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "…we focus on a specific point in the ongoing historical debate: the alleged relationship between the Shroud of Turin and the Pray Codex, the first illuminated manuscript in Hungarian named after the eighteenth-century Jesuit György Pray (1723-1801). Scholars have often compared the characteristics of a miniature in the Pray Codex (folio XXVIIIr), commonly dated circa 1192-1195, with the features of the Turin Shroud…"

On Nicolotti, the Flagrum and the Shroud by William Meacham - Academia.edu - November 3, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the online description: "Commentary and critique of Nicolotti's essay on the Roman flagrum and its relevance to the Shroud." [Editor's Note: This is the author's critique of the 2017 paper by Italian historian and noted Shroud skeptic, Andrea Nicolotti titled, The Scourge of Jesus and the Roman Scourge: Historical and Archaeological Evidence].

On Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin by Thomas McAvoy – Researchgate.net – July 2020. Here is the abstract:

“This paper examines Phillips’ hypothesis that neutron radiation from the body of the person wrapped in the Shroud of Turin could have altered its radiocarbon dating results. In an earlier paper it is shown that uv fluorescence intensity is highly non-uniform over the surface of the Shroud. The Shroud’s uv fluorescence intensity spatial variations very closely match the spatial radiocarbon dating variations calculated by Rucker in his MCNP simulation of Phillips’ hypothesis. Experimental results given here for neutron irradiated modern linen demonstrate that such radiation increases the fluorescence intensity of the linen. Previously published results on neutron radiation of modern linen show that it alters the radiocarbon dating of the linen. Thus, neutron radiation has the potential to explain both the Shroud’s anomalous radiocarbon dating as well as its very unique uv fluorescence spatial properties. Suggestions for follow up research to assess the hypothesis studied here are discussed.”

On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ by William D. Edwards, MD; Wesley J. Gabel, MDiv; Floyd E. Hosmer, MS, AMI, Journal of the American Medical Association, 1986;255(11):1455-1463, 21 March 1986.

Here is the abstract: "Jesus of Nazareth underwent Jewish and Roman trials, was flogged, and was sentenced to death by crucifixion. The scourging produced deep stripelike lacerations and appreciable blood loss, and it probably set the stage for hypovolemic shock, as evidenced by the fact that Jesus was too weakened to carry the crossbar (patibulum) to Golgotha. At the site of crucifixion, his wrists were nailed to the patibulum and, after the patibulum was lifted onto the upright post (stipes), his feet were nailed to the stipes. The major pathophysiologic effect of crucifixion was an interference with normal respirations. Accordingly, death resulted primarily from hypovolemic shock and exhaustion asphyxia. Jesus' death was ensured by the thrust of a soldier's spear into his side. Modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead when taken down from the cross." [Editor's Note: Click here for the full paper].

Optically Terminated Image Pixels Observed on Frei 1978 Samples with 7 color photographs. By Kevin E. Moran  (.pdf format) [228k] (From the 1999 Richmond Conference)

This excellent article describes some of the unique properties of the Shroud image and includes a number of fascinating photographs

Original Copies: The Newest Reproductions of the Shroud of Turin by Andrew R. Casper - Academia.edu - July 28, 2023 - Originally published in Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief, at this link on July 28, 2023 (Abstract & Notes only) - Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"The Shroud of Turin is one of Christianity's most famous, and controversial, sacred artifacts. A large part of its fame is due to the manufacture of reproductions which for ?ve centuries have provided the means to worship the Shroud in absentia. The newest of these, from a project titled Lino Val Gandino, interweave the legacies of centuries of copying up through and including modern digital renderings, multimedia broadcasts, and mass-produced pilgrimage souvenirs that today sustain devotion to the original Shroud…"

Origin of the Shroud of Turin From the Near East as Evidenced by Plant Images And By Pollen Grains, The by Dr. Avinoam Danin (Abstract)

An Israeli botanical expert evaluates the plant and pollen evidence on the Shroud. This paper was originally delivered at the 1998 Turin Symposium.

The OT Admonition to "Seek the Face of God:" The Nexus to the NT -With Consideration of the Shroud of Turin by Joseph G. Marino (March 2, 2024). Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:

“One of the most prominent phrases in the Old Testament is to “seek the Face of God.” According to the late Canadian theologian, Anselme Longpré, there are more than 600 direct references to that phrase in the Old Testament (Longpré 1985:26). It is paradoxical, given that in Ex 33:18, Moses asks to see God’s face, but God did not grant his request, as no human could withstand the glory of the Face (Ex 33:20). An obvious question is how a spiritual being can have a face. There are two camps: 1) the language is hyperbolic, or 2) the text means what it says. It is beyond the scope of this article to come up with a solution to this dilemma. Either way, the term is theologically-laden. Although I will cite just a few of the 600 OT references to the Face of God, my main focus in this short article is to examine how the NT adapts the phrase to the belief that Jesus was God, and as an adjunct, if the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the actual burial cloth of Jesus, can be woven into it."

Origins of a 14th Century Turin Shroud Image by Joseph Accetta - Academia.edu - November 15, 2019 [7 November 2020] - Here is the Abstract:

“This paper is based on the assumption that the Shroud of Turin is of 14th century origin consistent with its radiocarbon date and historical record and thus must be explained within the technology, social and cultural and contexts of that era. Avoiding the attendant controversy surrounding the date, we present a reasonable plausibility argument to reconcile its visual and forensic properties with extent 14th century printing technology and other related circumstances. We show that striking parallels exist between the general characteristics of an environmentally degraded woodprint and the Shroud image including the pseudo 3-d properties which arise as a natural and unintentional result of the printing process. Existing examples are shown of large woodprints of that era with sufficient detail and contrast variations that resemble the Shroud image resolution and contrast variation. Further the argument is reinforced with analytical results showing that under any reasonable assumptions about the surface bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) the observed 3-d properties cannot be reconciled with any known radiative imaging process.”

An Overview of the Testing Performed by the Shroud of Turin Research Project with a Summary of Results by E.J. Jumper - IEEE 1982 Proceedings of the International Conference on Cybernetics and Society, October 1982, pp. 535-537.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

The Parables of Jesus, the Man Born Blind (Jn 9:1-41), and Their Possible Relevance for Examining Various Theological Attitudes Toward the Shroud of Turin by Joseph G. Marino (March 23, 2024). Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“A reader might reasonably ask, apropos my title, “Is it appropriate to try to closely connect a biblical story with an object that could be a forgery? In recent decades, there has been an increasing amount of biblical exegesis examining various biblical passages that could be referring to the Shroud, in a sort of coded language known only to Christians, used to keep knowledge from Jews and Romans who would be intent on destroying such an object. Much of this work has been done by biblical and Greek scholar, Larry Stalley. See his site http://www.theincredibleshroud.com for more information.

Past Testing of the Shroud of Turin and Proposals for the Future by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – January 9, 2023 – Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“…When the first public photographs were taken in 1898, the amateur photographer, Secondo Pia, was shocked to discover on his negative plate a lifelike (positive) image. He was so surprised that he almost dropped the glass plate. (Photography was a relatively new science at the time.) Because of this peculiar characteristic, scientists began to get very interested in the Shroud. However, multiple decades would pass before extensive scientific testing was done on the cloth. This article will look at the three major scientific examinations done during the 20th century: *The 1969 & 1973 Turin Commission; *The 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP); *The 1988 C-14 Dating of the Shroud…” Also available is a Discussion Group on this topic.

Pattern recognition after image processing of low-contrast images, the case of the Shroud of Turin by Paolo Di Lazzaro, Daniele Murra and Barrie Schwortz - Journal: Pattern Recognition, available online December 31, 2012 (Abstract and Illustrations only). Pattern recognition after image processing of low-contrast images, the case of the Shroud of Turin (Full paper on Academia.edu) .

Abstract: We discuss the potentially misleading effect of software techniques for elaborating low-contrast images. In particular, we present the example of the stains embedded into one of the most studied archaeological objects in history, the Shroud of Turin. We show for the first time that image processing of both old and recent photographs of the Shroud may lead some researchers to perceive inscriptions and patterns that do not actually exist, confirming that there is a narrow boundary between image enhancement and manipulation.

The Perennial Problem of Dishonesty in Science. Has it Occurred in Research on the Turin Shroud? by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - March 17, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "When most people think of scientists, they typically think of a group that is generally honest and reliable. Unfortunately however, many known frauds have been perpetrated in scientific research. I searched on google for "dishonesty in science" and got 29,500,000 hits! Scientists, like everyone, have preconceptions and biases. Still, it's part of their job description to do everything they can to limit them so that their conclusions can be objective as possible…"

Perfumes and Pollens on the Shroud - Scientific and Religious Approach by Rosanna Callipari, Giuseppe Gentile and Giovanni Fazio - Global Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology - Juniper Publishers - November 4, 2022

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "…The Shroud of Turin is one of the many riddles scientists and technicians have eagerly faced, an enigma many await to be unraveled: is the linen a real burial sheet? Among scientists there is no uniformity, and it has been so for over 100 years. Therefore, it is necessary to know if burial ointments were sprinkled over the corpse…"

Perspectives for the Future Study of the Shroud by Bruno Barberis

A very important paper from the April 2012 Valencia Conference [26 August 2012]

Petrus Soons Responds To Garlaschelli  (.pdf format) [16k]

On October 6, 2009, Italian Prof. Luigi Garlaschelli issued a press release to the Reuters News Service, announcing he had "reproduced" the Shroud image using medieval technologies, thus proving it a fake. This is a preliminary response by Petrus Soons that was published on this website on October 7, 2009.

Photographic & Computer Studies Concerning the Burn & Water Stains Visible on the Shroud by Aldo Guerreschi  (.pdf format) [536k]

This intriguing paper is another example of Aldo Guerreschi's thoughtful and thorough approach to Sindonology and one of his finest, strikingly visual presentations to date. It is profusely illustrated with 49 color photographs and illustrations.

Photometric Responses from the Shroud by Peter M. Schumacher  (.pdf format) [24k] (From the 1999 Richmond Conference)

This paper is written by the man who developed and installed the VP-8 Image Analyzer that was used by researchers in 1976 to scientifically visualize the dimensional (3-D) information encoded in the Shroud image for the first time.

Physical or Theological Approach to Investigate the Shroud Image Formation by UV Radiation? by Giovanni Fazio - International Journal of Theology, Philosophy and Science - No. 9, Year 5/2021 – November 8, 2021.

Here is the abstract: "In this article, we ask ourselves if it is possible that Corona Discharge or Vacuum UV radiation may have been the tools to produce the Shroud body image. We are convinced that both are not appropriate mechanisms. In fact, the start of these processes is based on inconsistent hypotheses for the natural sciences, although all that follows is rational, reasonable and acceptable. However, the big initial mole remains. The complexity of this situation is such that it seems to be in a world in part Transcendent and in part Immanent. Therefore, independently from the possible results that in a next future could be obtained, due to identified photochemical processes, the Scientific Method cannot accept both the hypotheses and, consequently, the experiments. The same is also for the Theological approach which discards both proposals."

Physics and Chemistry of the Shroud of Turin, A Summary of the 1978 Investigation by L.A. Schwalbe and R.N. Rogers - Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol. 135, 1982, pp. 3-49.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Pierre Barbet Revisited by Frederick T. Zugibe, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Zugibe is the Medical Examiner of Rockland County, New York, and has made an in-depth study of crucifixion. His book, "The Cross and the Shroud," where he challenged the conclusions of Pierre Barbet, was published in 1982. This article first appeared in Sindon N. S. in 1995. Dr. Zugibe began his research on the Shroud and crucifixion in 1948 and reaches some interesting conclusions about death on the cross. Illustrated with nine photographs. CAUTION: The subject of this paper is crucifixion and it contains graphic illustrations. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The Plethora of Disciplines Used to Study the Shroud of Turin by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - Updated July 3, 2022 [31 August 2022]

Here is the online description: "Since 1898, science has been interested in the study of the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial cloth of the historical Jesus of Nazareth. This article provides a list of scientific and non-scientific disciplines involved in the study of the cloth. The data begs the question: could a medieval forger know enough about all these disciplines to be able to convince many 20th and 21st-century scientists, doctors and researchers that the cloth was authentic?"

Point of Nuclear Physics About the Shroud of Turin, A by Gildas Rouvillois

In this short article, the author disagrees with the tentative explanation of the controversial carbon dating of the Shroud by J.B.Rinaudo. Rinaudo surmised that simultaneous fluxes of protons and neutrons could explain both the image on the cloth (by the protons) and the 13-century slip of time of the carbon14 nuclei (by the neutrons).

The Politics of the Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud - Part I by Joseph G. Marino - 21 January 2016 - Here is a brief excerpt from the Introduction:

"...Part I looks at the years leading up to the dating. Part II will analyze the actual events of the day the sample was extracted. Part III will recount the aftermath, which continues to this day. The format will be a chronological listing, stating the information, the source used, and in some entries also my comments, which may cross reference other sources and also fill in some lacunae. I will periodically revise the article as information will need to be constantly adapted and added. It is my hope that you will find the article enlightening."

The Politics of the Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud - Part II by Joseph G. Marino - 1 June 2016

Part I was published in January but it has had numerous updates since. Here is a citation from Part II of a quote by the late Dr. Luigi Gonella, scientific advisor to the late Cardinal Ballestrero, referring to the C-14 scientists from the labs, which is most significant: "...it takes an intellectual effort to believe the results of somebody who behaved like that."

The Politics of the Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud - Part III by Joseph G. Marino - 19 September 2016

Part I was published in January and Part II was published in June, but they both have had additional material added to them. (Links to parts I and II can be found in Part III.) The author spent approximately 185 hours over the course of about 10 months researching and compiling this information, which is detailed on an unprecedented level. The author had access to some rare documents and information by those directly or closely involved in the C-14 dating process. The reader should be shocked at the degree to which politics affected the whole process.

Pollen on the Shroud of Turin: The Probable Trace Left by Anointing and Embalming by Marzia Boi, Archaeometry, 28 October 2016. Here is the Abstract:

"This study proposes an alternative interpretation of the pollen grains found on the Christian relic of the Shroud of Turin, the majority of which belong to entomogamous plants. The examination of the images in the literature and the observation of modern pollen under light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy reveal that the most abundant pollen on the relic may be attributed to the genus Helichrysum (Asteraceae family) instead of Gundelia tournefortii. The other most important pollen found belongs to the Cistaceae-Cistus spp.—the Apiaceae—probably Ferula spp.—and the Anacardianceae—the genus Pistacia. These pollen grains could have come from plants used to obtain expensive and valuable substances that would have been the basis for the oils of Helichrysum, ladanum and galbanum, as well as for mastic and terebinth products; this fact has not been considered by previous authors. Ancient historical records give us references that could link the pollen traces to a mixture of balms and ointments employed for preparing the body for funeral and burial. For this reason, the palynological study reveals coherency with these historical records about the rituals, as reported on by the important scientists Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides, dating back to the first century ad."

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences' Controversial Involvement in the Turin Shroud's C-14 Dating by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - October 8, 2022

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is the Pope's scientific advisory body, which promotes the progress of the mathematical, physical, and natural sciences as well as the study of related epistemological issues. However, many people knowledgeable about the Turin Shroud are unaware of its involvement in the controversial 1988 C-14 dating of the Shroud. This article will document their enigmatic role in the whole affair…"

Portable Unit Permits UV/vis Study of 'Shroud' by S.F. Pellicori and R.A. Chandos - Industrial Research and Development, February 1981, pp. 186-189.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

The possible existence of Strange Quark Matter particles in the Turin Shroud by Jose Carlos Espriella - Academia.edu - July 27, 2023 - Here is the introduction:

"It is studied the release of strange Quark matter in the form of Hydrogen strangelets from the body wrapped in the Turin Shroud by analysing pyrolysis mass spectra of Shroud´s samples. It is proposed that a controversial 131 signal could be explained by assuming that 5 amu Hydrogen strangelets particles were captured by molecules produced during the degradation of cellulose: Levoglucosenone MW=126 amu and Hydroxymethyl furfural MW=126, enhancing its molecular weight to 131 amu accounting for the controversial 131 signal."

The presence of dye in the 1988 radiocarbon date samples of the Shroud of Turin by Pam Moon - Published December 8, 2015 on Pam's Shroud of Turin Exhibition website. Here is the opening paragraph of the article:

This paper argues that the radiocarbon date samples of the Shroud of Turin, dated by laboratories in Oxford, Arizona and Zurich in 1988 were contaminated by dye, mordant, plant gum and cotton. These were not removed by the pre-cleaning of the samples which invalidates the radiocarbon date results.

Pressed Flowers: Where Did the Shroud of Turin Originate? A Botanical Quest by Avinoam Danin
Flores Prensadas: ¿Dónde tuvo su origen la Sábana Santa de Turín? Una Investigación Botánica - En Español

This article was originally published in the November/December 1997 issue of "Eretz," the Geographic Magazine of Israel and created quite a stir when it first appeared. In it, the author claims that he analyzed impressions of flowers on the cloth and determined that the relic originated in Israel. Professor Danin is a botanist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is considered an expert on the flowers of Israel. He was first introduced to Shroud research by Alan Whanger, whose photographs accompany the article. I am pleased to reprint this article on the website and want to thank "Eretz" for their generous permission to do so.

Pressure and Temperature during the Shroud Image Formation by Giovanni Fazio and Rosanna Callipari - Global Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology, Volume 12 Issue 4 - December 2022 [21 JAN 2023] - Here is the abstract:

"In this paper, we investigate the trend of Pressure and Temperature during the Shroud Body Image formation. The Pressure is constant with different values on the two images. The Temperature of the corpse decreases to reach the thermal equilibrium. The first parameter acts on the dorsal image that becomes a contact image. The decrease of the second parameter leads to trigger a stochastic process."

Primer on the Shroud of Turin, A by James A. Termini - Academia.edu, September 2019 [21 January 2020]

Here is the lead in to the article: "This primer is intended for those who wish to enhance their familiarity with the Shroud of Turin. Links to insightful videos and testimonials are included."

The Primordial Fold by César Barta - Academia.edu - April 18, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the article: "Currently the center of the Shroud is marked by a fold or crease that runs along its length. This was the center when the fire of 1532 occurred and when the 4 groups of burns in L were marked. But during the restoration work of 2002, Dr. Flury Lemberg, who led this restoration, noted another fold next to the one previously mentioned, but that does not match the current center and it is shifted toward the side opposite to the side wound…"

Probabilistic Model to Quantify the Results of the Research on the Turin Shroud, A by Giulio Fanti & Emanuela Marinelli (.pdf format) [68k] (English)

Un modello probabilistico per quantificare i risultati delle ricerche sulla Sindone di Torino (.pdf format) [63k] (Italian)

Results of a Probabilistic Model Applied to the Research carried out on the Turin Shroud (.pdf format) [165k] (English)


Risultati di un modello probabilistico applicato alle ricerche eseguite sulla Sindone di Torino (.pdf format) [172k] (Italian)

These papers were originally presented at the 1998 Turin Symposium and are available in both English and Italian versions.

(Full) Proceedings of the 1977 United States Conference on the Shroud of Turin - Edited by Kenneth Stevenson - Published by the Holy Shroud Guild - March 24, 1977

This is the entire 132 page volume of the Proceedings that includes all the presentations made by the attendees. See page 6 of the pdf document for a complete list of included authors and pages 7 and 8 for the Table of Contents. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction: "The Shroud of Turin has been called the Fifth Gospel. It has also been denounced as a fraud. Fifth Gospel or fraud - the Shroud is certainly still a fascinating mystery in the twentieth century. Prior to the twentieth century, historians attempted to trace the Shroud from Turin to Calvary, but the trail was lost in France during the fourteenth century. Although records were found in Constantinople which placed the Burial Cloth of Christ in that city during the twelfth century, although references were found In earlier documents, the broken links and gaps made a strong historical argument for authenticity impossible. However, new research during recent decades has filled in many of those gaps and has strengthened the historical argument..." [Editor's Note: The original scanning of this document was less than perfect but the information was important enough to be included in spite of those limitations. We have run OCR software on the file so at least copying the text is possible, although minor errors might still be found].

Proceedings of the 2014 Workshop on Advances in the Turin Shroud Investigation (ATSI 2014) by B. Barberis, F. Lattarulo, P. Di Lazzaro and D. Petri (Eds.). SHS Web of Conferences,Vol. 15 (2015), 2014 Workshop on Advances in the Turin Shroud Investigation (ATSI 2014), Bari, Italy, September 4–5, 2014.

This website provides free access to nine of the papers that were presented at the Bari conference.

Professional Arts and the Principle and Practice of Conservation, The - Restoration Versus the Turin Shroud by Isabel Piczek

In this paper the author expresses her concerns as a professional artist over future conservation plans for the Shroud and demonstrates why regarding the image as a painting will have serious impact on its preservation. This paper was originally presented at the 1998 Turin Symposium.

Gli scatti proibiti della Sindone (The Prohibited Photographs of the Shroud) - La Stampa 12 September 2013

This is an Italian language article published on September 12, 2013 in the newspaper La Stampa that reported that new evidence reveals an unauthorized series of photographs was made of the Shroud the night before Secondo Pia made the first official photographs in 1898! I expect we will be hearing more about this in the future. Here is a Google translation of the opening paragraphs:

The first official photos taken in the Cathedral of the Holy Shroud of Turin by Secondo Pia May 28, 1898, after two tests made May 25, were preceded by a series of illegal shots, so far unknown, made by an unauthorized photographer, A. Gallo, who acted the night before on 27 May and developed his plates on 1 June. This was announced by the Museum of the Holy Shroud, directed by Gian Maria Zaccone, who has received the gift of the photographs from the descendants of Gallo, the family Beltramo Ceppi of Milan.

Proposal for High Resolution Colorimetric Mapping of the Turin Shroud, A: Analysis of Metrological Problems by Giulio Fanti

The author is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Padua in Italy. Included here is the paper he presented at the Nice (France) Symposium in May of 1997. It proposes the use of high resolution digital colorimetric mapping of the Shroud to create a database that could be used for further scientific analyses and possibly lead to a better understanding of the image formation mechanism . In the article, which includes six illustrations, he describes the experiment and apparatus, discusses some of the problem areas that might be encountered and suggests possible solutions.

Prospects of Research of the Turin Shroud in Russia by Alexander Belyakov

The author is an orthodox physicist and graduate of Moscow University who is currently director of the Moscow Center of the Turin Shroud. Included here is the text of his presentation made at the Shroud conference in San Felice, Italy, on August 24-25, 1996. In it he discusses how changing ideologies have opened the door to Shroud research in Russia. He then presents his theories on the image formation mechanism of the Shroud. Also included at the end of the article is the text of another short presentation he made that discusses the reversed perspective rule in Orthodox iconography and its "genealogical" linkage of the Shroud of Turin to the Orthodox Mandylion.

Purported Cloths of Jesus Apart from the Turin Shroud by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – March 16, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the online description:

“Many people are familiar with the Turin Shroud, believed by many to be the sindon mentioned in Matthew, Mark and Luke and part of the othonia mentioned by John. (Relatively few people know that Luke, after using sindon in 23:53 to describe what Joseph of Arimathea had used to bury Jesus, uses othonia to describe what Peter found when he went to the tomb.) Some people are also fairly familiar with “Sudarium of Oviedo, which is believed my many researchers to the face cloth mentioned in Jn 20:7…”

Pyrolysis/Mass Spectrometry Applied to the Shroud of Turin by Ray Rogers

A technical paper from Ray Rogers that explains how Pyrolysis/Mass Spectrometry was used to detect impurities (like painting mediums) on samples of the Shroud of Turin. Interestingly, a gum coating was found on the fibers of the Raes Sample, a section cut from the Shroud in 1973 from an area directly adjoining the 1988 c14 sample. However, this gum coating was not found on any fibers from anywhere else on the Shroud. The tests provided quantitative evidence that the Raes sample and consequently, the adjoining 1988 c14 sample, were both anomalous and different from the rest of the Shroud. With this, and a significant amount of other corroborative scientific evidence, the validity of the 1988 c14 dating of the Shroud is even further in doubt.

Quantitative Photography of the Shroud of Turin by D. Devan and V. Miller - IEEE 1982 Proceedings of the International Conference on Cybernetics and Society, October 1982, pp. 548-553.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Quaranta anni dopo gli esami scientifici sulla Sindone del 1978 (Forty years after the scientific examinations on the Shroud of 1978) - Pierluigi Baima Bollone and Grazia Mattutino - Giornale della Accademia di Medicina di Torino - Researchgate.net - January 2020. (Abstract in English, paper in Italian). [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"The article summarizes the development of scientific research on the Shroud, a well-known ancient burial sheet of undefined dating, and the events that led to the direct examinations of the artifact performed by various researchers between 8 and 15 October 1978. On that occasion one of us took 12 threads and from various sites previously considered relevant. The results of the morphological examinations, both with the optic microscope and with the SEM as well as microanalysis, were communicated during the session of May 6th 1981 of the Academy of Medicine of Torino…"

Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin, by P. E. Damon, D. J. Donahue, B. H. Gore, A. L. Hatheway, A. J. T. Jull, T. W. Linick, P. J. Sercel, L. J. Toolin, C.R. Bronk, E. T. Hall, R. E. M. Hedges, R. Housley, I. A. Law, C. Perry, G. Bonani, S. Trumbore, W. Woelfli, J. C. Ambers, S. G. E. Bowman, M. N. Leese & M. S. Tite.

This is the paper, reprinted from "Nature," the weekly journal in which it first appeared in February 1989, that concluded the Shroud is of medieval origin and dated the cloth to around 1325 A.D. It has had more impact on Shroud research than any other paper ever written on the subject. When first released, it was given considerable publicity and much of the world accepted its conclusions, virtually bringing all other Shroud research to a halt. In the last few years however, new evidence has suggested the possibility that a contaminant, in the form of a bioplastic coating, might have caused a skewing of the resultant date. Others have criticized the protocol followed by the laboratories, which was changed at the last minute from the one recommended by a panel of experts. Critically absent, according to several researchers, was any chemical analysis of the samples prior to testing. This has led a number of scientists to challenge the conclusions of the paper, which claims a "95% certainty" for the results. They point out that in biochemistry, total chemical analysis of a biological product is the first thing done to assure the reader that you have what you think you have. Anything less than that must be regarded as a preliminary characterization and should be so stated. They also point out that "Nature" is not a peer-reviewed journal. This is the first time the paper has ever appeared on the Internet. Considering the number of articles critical of the paper found on this website, I am pleased to give everyone an opportunity to finally read the actual paper for themselves. I am grateful to "Nature" for allowing me to reprint it and to Mr. Timothy Jull, of the University of Arizona, for providing me with an excellent copy and helping me get permission to include it here. I consider it an important addition to this website.

Editor's Note: I recently received a note from Mr. Jull in which he made the following comments:

"I looked at the Shroud website recently and noted the addition of the Nature article. I noted some of the editorial remarks - I have a comment on one at this time. It is TOTALLY INCORRECT to state that Nature is not a peer-reviewed journal (I realize your comments attribute this remark to others...). This is not true. All papers for Nature are reviewed in the normal way for scientific publications. You can confirm from the editors of Nature this is correct. I think you should note this assertion is wrong on your web page. Otherwise, I find your site very interesting."

Radiocarbon Dating The Shroud of Turin and Jacques de Molay: Freemasonry View by Pam Moon (April 3, 2024). Here is an excerpt from the article:

“Other than Michael Tite’s beliefs, the four institutions, the British Museum, Oxford, Zurich and Arizona have not speculated on the creation of the Shroud, (who made it, where, when, why or how), and have consigned it to a vacuum in history. Given the importance of academic rigor, why is the Shroud of Turin subjected to this complete lack of curiosity? If, as Cardinal Ballestrero said, there was Freemasonry involvement in the dating of the Shroud of Turin, it could have had the deliberate aim of securing a medieval date for the Shroud, consistent with Jacques de Molay. This paper suggests the number of coincidences should not be ignored. If there was an ulterior motive, then the tests may not have been conducted with scientific neutrality, and the results would have no credibility. If Freemasons were involved, they obtained bona fide relics of the Shroud; obvious because the Shroud was the only herringbone material. In the 1980s the Catholic Church suffered considerable harm. The financial loss when Banco Ambrosiano collapsed was nothing compared to the damage done to the reputation of the greatest relic of Jesus Christ on earth. There are consistent calls for the Holy Shroud to be re-dated, but until what happened in 1988 is fully understood, including who was involved, it may be ill-advised to consider such a course of action.”

Radiocarbon Dating The Shroud of Turin - A Critical Statistical Analysis by Remi Van Haelst

First published after the release of the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud in 1988, this was one of the first papers to scientifically refute the claimed 95% confidence for the mediaeval age of the cloth. I should point out that this is a very technical paper and may be somewhat difficult for some viewers to understand. This is an updated version done in 1997.

Radiocarbon Dating The Shroud of Turin - The Nature Report by Remi Van Haelst (.pdf format) [94k]

The author's newly updated response that scientifically refutes the 1989 carbon dating article that appeared in the weekly journal "Nature." Remi's articles are usually quite technical, and this one is no exception. For experts.

Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud: New Evidence From Raw Data by T. Casabianca, E. Marinelli, G. Pernagallo, B. Torrisi - Archaeometry, 22 March 2019

For more than 29 years, every request for the release of the raw data from the three laboratories that performed the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin in 1988 was declined. Then, in 2017, Italian Shroud researcher Tristan Casabianca used the Freedom of Information Act in the United Kingdom that compelled the British Museum to finally release the long awaited data. The British Museum had acted as the formal supervisor of the three laboratories (Oxford, Zurich and Arizona) during the process and apparently, maintained the archive of all the data. Tristan and his team have now completed the first analysis of that raw data. Here is the abstract: "In 1988, three laboratories performed a radiocarbon analysis of the Turin Shroud. The results, which were centralized by the British Museum and published in Nature in 1989, provided ‘conclusive evidence’ of the medieval origin of the artefact. However, the raw data were never released by the institutions. In 2017, in response to a legal request, all raw data kept by the British Museum were made accessible. A statistical analysis of the Nature article and the raw data strongly suggests that homogeneity is lacking in the data and that the procedure should be reconsidered."

Radiocarbon Measurement and the Age of the Turin Shroud: Possibilities and Uncertainties by William Meacham

This is one of the first published scientific papers that dealt with carbon dating the Shroud of Turin. It was presented by William Meacham, a noted archaeologist, at the 1986 Shroud Symposium in Hong Kong. In it, the author expresses his concerns that "contamination is a very serious problem in interpreting the results of radiocarbon measurement," and examines the issue of the reliability of C-14 testing to produce an 'absolute date' on the Shroud. Meacham took part in the Turin Workshop in late September 1986 at which the carbon dating protocol was determined, but was ultimately excluded from any further involvement in the dating of the Turin Shroud.

Radiographic Examination of the Shroud of Turin - A Preliminary Report by R.W. Mottern, R.J. London and R.A. Morris - Materials Evaluation, Vol. 38, No. 12 pp. 39-44.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Radiological Aspects of the Shroud of Turin (Excerpt) by Alan D. Whanger and Mary Whanger  (.pdf format) [431k] [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference) (20 color photos and illustrations)

For this part of his paper, Alan examined the 1978 STURP x-rays and detected apparent anomalies in the area from which the 1988 radiocarbon sample was taken, confirming some of Ray Rogers' observations.

Raman and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) Analyses of a Microsubstance Adhering to a Fiber of the Turin Shroud by Jean-Pierre Laude and Giulio Fanti - Applied Spectroscopy, Sage Journals - Vol 71, Issue 10, 2017. Here is the Abstract:

The Raman spectrum of a microsubstance, smeared on a fiber coming from the Shroud of Turin, was compared with numerous spectra published for old or modern pigment dyes, whole bloods, dried bloods, red blood cells, albumin, very ancient blood stains, and various “degradation” products of heme. Within the wavenumber measure accuracy, it is shown that all Raman lines detected above background could correspond to vibration frequencies found in biliverdin-derived compounds except a weak line that we tentatively attributed to amide I. Biliverdin is known as an oxidative ring cleavage product of the heme of blood. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis of the sample confirms an elemental composition fully compatible with this hypothesis. Therefore, it is very likely that this microsubstance contains products of heme including heme/biliverdin-derived compounds and protein traces (amide I). Nevertheless, other measures will be necessary to confirm it. This method of identification, adding EDS to Raman spectrometry can be applied to nondestructive testing (NDT) of many other microsamples.

Raman and Fluorescence spectra of UV or proton exposed linens: a tentative to evaluate some hypotheses on the Shroud of Turin image formation by Jean-Pierre Laude - Conference Paper, 26th International Conference On Raman Spectroscopy, ICORS 2018, August 26-31, 2018. ICC Jeju, Jeju, Korea. Here is a brief excerpt from the abstract:

"Among many other conjectures about the process of image formation on the Shroud of Turin, it has been hypothesized that the faint yellowed body image apparent on this famous archaeological linen cloth could have been radiation-based imprinted in unknowned circumstances: by UV photons as hypothesized by G. Baldacchini and others, by protons as hypothesized J-B Rinaudo, or by any kind of energy radiation."

The Ramifications of the Image Superficiality on the Turin Shroud - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - July 22, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"One of the most striking features on the Turin Shroud is the superficiality of the image, which was one of the things that most surprised the 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project "STURP," a group of mainly American scientists and most of whom worked in the U.S.' nuclear and space programs, were given permission to study the Shroud, believed by many to be the actual burial cloth of the historical Jesus of Nazareth, for five days around the clock. Their mission was to determine how the image got onto the cloth, no more, no less. They were unable to come up with an answer, and actually concluded the image was not the product of the artist…"

Raymond N. Rogers and the Shroud of Turin - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - August 26, 2021 [30 Sept 2021] - Updated October 20, 2022 [5 DEC 2022] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"Anyone familiar with the Shroud of Turin will likely recognize the name of Raymond N. Rogers. He was the Director of Chemical Research for the 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), which studied the cloth for five days around the clock and concluded that the image was not the product of an artist. If one listens only to Shroud skeptics, one would get the impression that STURP was just a bunch of pseudo-scientific religious zealots out to prove that the Shroud was authentic. In fact, most of them were scientists who worked in the U.S.' space and nuclear programs; only a few of the group were devout Christians. Their main objective was to determine how the image on the cloth was formed…"

[Editor's Note: Joe received a prompt response to this paper from Larry Schwalbe, STURP team member from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and a close colleague of Rogers. Here is Larry's comment (reprinted with permission)]:

"Joe. Thank you for the paper recognizing the life and work of Ray Rogers. With the exception of his wife Joan, I believe I knew him better than anyone else in the project. Those who try to belittle him as "second-rate" have no conception of the scientific intellect, experience, or insights he brought both to his professional work at LANL or to the Shroud project. Indeed, I believe Alan Adler was the only member of the team who could talk to him at his level. To be sure, Ray was a "prickly" character and did not suffer fools lightly. But, as you say, when presented with evidence, he was quite capable of changing his mind both about ideas as well as about people. I miss the guy as I'm sure others do who still want to get to the bottom of the Shroud's mysteries. Larry."

Raymond Rogers' Communications to the Shroud Science Group on the Anomalous Nature of the C-14 Corner by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - November 7, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "I recently published an article titled, "Raymond Rogers' Explosive Studies of the Turin Shroud." That article focused on emails that Rogers had sent to my late wife Sue Benford and me regarding the sample used for the 1988 C-14 dating, which he believed was not valid to determine the Shroud's age, as shown as in his 2005 paper in the peer-reviewed journal Thermochimica Acta. In late 2002, an online group called the "Shroud Science Group" (SSG) was formed. Rogers was a member of the group. His postings to the group provided a preview to group members what would be revealed in his 2005 paper…"

Raymond Rogers' Explosive Studies of the Turin Shroud by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - November 1, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "The late Ray Rogers was the head of the chemistry group for the 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), which studied the cloth for five days around the clock and concluded that the image was not the product of an artist. Rogers' resume is impressive. The "Explosive" part of the title is an allusion to part of the resume, which states, "Major research interests were explosives safety, super-energy explosives, low-intensity conflict (non-violent war), energy resources, applications of chemical methods (primarily thermal) to the study of archaeological samples, and application of chemical science to intelligence operations…"" Also available is an online discussion page with the author.

A Ray of Light on the Shroud of Turin by Paolo Di Lazzaro, Daniele Murra, ENEA Research Centre of Frascati. From the Proceedings of the Conference "FIAT LUX - Let there be light" held in Rome on 3-5 June 2015. Here is a brief excerpt from the abstract:

"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 and DNA clues to the linen irradiation experiments at the ENEA, till the illusory perception of low contrast stains on the Shroud."

Ray Rogers 1988 Letter to Giovanni Fazio

This is a link to a letter Rogers wrote to Prof. Fazio dated 16 February 1988, which mainly consisted of Rogers commenting on experiments using modern linen and making an observation that lignin "gradually changes its chemical composition with time."

Raymond N. Rogers’ observations and conclusions concerning the body image that is visible on the Shroud of Turin by Yannick Clément [21 January 2013]

This extensively researched paper (published on Pete Schumacher's Shroudnm.com website) provides a list of the most important quotes concerning the Shroud body image taken from Raymond N. Rogers’ official publications written during the period 2002-2005. Includes complete references.

Recent Historical Investigations on the Sudarium of Oviedo by Mark Guscin (.pdf format) [50k] (From the 1999 Richmond Conference)

Member of the Investigation Team of the Centro Espanol de Sindonlogia and the British Society for the Turin Shroud. Mr. Guscin's book on the Sudarium of Oviedo, The Oviedo Cloth, was published in 1998 by the Lutterworth Press.

The reddish color of bloodstains on the Shroud of Turin: investigation of two hypotheses by Kelly Kearse - Journal of Historical Archaeology & Anthropological Sciences, Vol. 5, Issue 3, 2020 - June 16, 2020 - [7 November 2020] - Here is the abstract:

“One of the most intriguing examples of aged bloodstains on an archeological textile are those found on the Shroud of Turin, a controversial linen cloth bearing the image of a man with wounds corresponding to scourging and crucifixion. Previous studies have demonstrated that the bloodstains test positive for various blood components including hemoglobin, albumin, and immunoglobulin, indicating they are not merely paint or pigment; however, as noted by many who have examined the cloth, the bloodstains are more reddish than would be expected for aged blood. It has been suggested that the reddish color may be a consequence of a residual coating of Saponaria, a softening agent used in the processing of ancient linen that contains hemolytic properties. Alternatively, the reddish color has been proposed to result from a high bilirubin content in the blood, transferred from a body that had undergone severe physical trauma. Here, both hypotheses are examined to assess the effects of such circumstances on bloodstain color over time. No effect of hemolysis on bloodstain color was observed, although, unexpectedly, it was found that a reddish color did persist in blood added to material that had been pre-treated with glycerin. Bloodstains with a high bilirubin content were not found to maintain a reddish color, regardless of the specific form of bilirubin present. The implications of these studies for bloodstain evaluation on the Shroud of Turin are discussed.”

Red Stains on the Lier and Other Shroud Copies, The by Remi Van Haelst

Remi Van Haelst is a researcher from Belgium and is also a member of CIELT, the group that sponsored the May 1997 Nice Symposium where this paper was first presented. His paper discusses many of the known Shroud replicas and copies and compares them to the original. He also discusses the four sets of "L shaped" burn holes in the Shroud that probably predate the 1532 fire. The article includes four detailed color photographic closeups of the burn holes as well as a transmitted light image of the Shroud. Since Remi used several of my photographs for his research, I have taken the liberty of annotating certain portions of the text and adding a graphic to the article for further clarity.

Rejected STURP "II" Test Proposals for the Turin Shroud: a Series of Lost Opportunities by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - July 2, 2022 [31 August 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "…not many people are aware that STURP also submitted additional testing proposals in 1984, 1987 and 1988. If STURP had been allowed to perform further testing, they would have been known as "STURP II." Sadly, all three proposals were rejected by Church authorities; it has had enormous repercussions on the public and scientific perceptions of the Shroud…"

Relation between D/H ratios and 180 and 160 ratios in cellulose from linen and maize. Implications for paleoclimatology and sindonology - Geochim.- Cosmochim.-Acta, May 19, 1988, vol 52., 2189-2196.

Note that one of the authors, Jim Drusik, was a member of the STURP team.

The Remarkable Metrological History of Radiocarbon Dating [II] by Lloyd A. Currie. Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Volume 109, Number 2, March-April 2004. Although this is an older paper, it includes a substantial section on the Shroud of Turin that you might find interesting. Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"This article traces the metrological history of radiocarbon, from the initial breakthrough devised by Libby, to minor (evolutionary) and major (revolutionary) advances that have brought 14C measurement from a crude, bulk [8 g carbon] dating tool, to a refined probe for dating tiny amounts of precious artifacts, and for “molecular dating” at the 10 ìg to 100 ìg level."

Report on the Czechia Shroud Copy by Dr. Leo Bazant-Hegemark

Dr. Leo Bazant-Hegemark, a Shroud researcher in Austria, recently made a field trip to Czechia to examine the previously unknown Shroud copy discovered there in January 1999. Dr. Bazant was kind enough to send me a letter with details from his trip journal, along with a number of photographs of the hand painted cloth. A letter of authenticity signed by the Archbishop of Turin was also found with the copy, which was originally made in 1651. I have included excerpts from Dr. Bazant's letter (along with five color photographs), in this informal article. My sincere thanks to Dr. Bazant for his kindness in sharing this information with us.

“Restoration” of the Turin Shroud, The: A Conservation And Scientific Disaster by William Meacham

This is the full article that appeared in e-conservation magazine, No. 13 (February 2010) pp. 28-42. I think its title speaks for itself.

The Rev. H. David Sox: His Intriguing Role in the Shroud's C-14 Dating by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - September 2, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the online introduction: "This article examines the role of England-based American Episcopalian priest H. David Sox, who, after initially leaning toward the Shroud being authentic, quickly changed to believed that the Shroud was a forgery. It expands on the views of three other Shroud researchers' suspicions toward Sox. His self-insertion into the proposed C-14 dating of the Shroud and his interactions with several other key figures in the process are analyzed. While few solid answers are attainable, many key questions about Sox's involvement and possible implications are considered."

Review of Botany of the Shroud: The Story of Floral Images on the Shroud of Turin By Avinoam Danin by Diana Fulbright

This is a review of Avinoam Danin's 2010 book in which the author details his botanical studies of the Shroud and discusses the floral images he has observed. (Written exclusively for shroud.com)

Review of Primary Claimed Features of the Shroud of Turin That Purport to Show It's Not a Medieval Forgery - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - August 20, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"Researchers who claim that the Shroud of Turin was not produced by medieval artisan or that it is the actual burial cloth of Jesus will enumerate in one form or another various characteristics of the Shroud and/or its image that for them support their positions. Many, if not all of the characteristics, have been challenged by those who believe the Shroud is nothing more than a medieval fake, despite the fact that no method of production proposed by them can duplicate all of the features. It should also be noted that not all neutral or pro-authenticity researchers accept all of the characteristics touted by other like-minded researchers. This article will list some of the major sources for these features…"

Review of 'The Shroud of Turin: Radiation Effects, Aging, and Image Formation' by Ray Rogers by Robert Rucker, Giulio Fanti, Mark Antonacci, Tony Flemming and Keith Propp - Academia.edu - June 28, 2016 [19 Sept 2016]

Use this link for the latest version of this article: List of Papers by Robert Rucker on his Shroud Research Net website

Review of the Picknett/Prince book: "The Turin Shroud: In Whose Image" by Prof. Daniel C. Scavone

This is a review of the 1994 book by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince that concludes Leonardo Da Vinci created the Shroud of Turin. The review, written by noted Shroud author and historian Daniel C. Scavone, Professor of History at the University of Southern Indiana, is the first available by a qualified Shroud researcher. This review discusses their theories in detail and challenges their conclusions, point by point. Professor Scavone's well researched book on the history of the Shroud, "THE SHROUD OF TURIN: OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS," was published in 1989.

Review of 'Test the Shroud' by Mark Antonacci by Robert A. Rucker - Academia.edu - June 28, 2016. [19 Sept 2016]

Use this link for the latest version of this article: List of Papers by Robert Rucker on his Shroud Research Net website

Revised, natural explanation for the Shroud of Turin image, A: creation of a composite Maillard reaction by Kelly Kearse - Journal of Historical Archaeology & Anthropological Sciences, Volume 5 Issue 5 - 2020. [21 January 2021] Here is the abstract:

"The Shroud of Turin is a large linen cloth bearing the full size image of a man with wounds corresponding to scourging and crucifixion. The molecular basis for the image on the cloth is unknown, although interestingly, the color only exists in a thin film on the fiber surface, less than 0.7 micrometers thick. In 2003, Rogers proposed that the Shroud image was the result of a Maillard reaction, involving interaction of free amines with reducing carbohydrates. Specifically, he suggested that a thin coating of crude starch and Saponaria residue on the surface of the cloth reacted with volatile amine-containing compounds arising from a body. Here, Rogers' Maillard hypothesis is (re)examined with the consideration of additional, contributing factors in the possible creation of the Shroud image."

Revisiting a pure stochastic mechanism to explain the body image formation on the Linen of Turin by Giovanni Fazio, Giuseppe Mandaglio and Antonio Anastasi - The Journal of The Textile Institute, Published online: 30 Nov 2016. [21 January 2017] Here is the abstract:

"In this paper, we revisit a pure stochastic process as a possible mechanism of the Shroud body image formation. Successively, we make a comparison with another mechanism that uses the Maillard reaction as source of a ‘stochastic-like effect’ image. Both the mechanisms seem to be able to explain all the chemical and physical characteristics of the Shroud image. However, an experimental confirm of the possible colouration by the Maillard reaction could be, easily, verified. On the contrary, for obtaining a pure stochastic effect, it is necessary to await the result of the experiment for years or decades. Indeed, the latency times, for the two images’ formation are very different."

Revisiting the Analysis of 1988 Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin by Darshi Arachige - Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.4, No.13, July. 25, 2017 - Here is the Abstract:

"This paper revisits the analysis of 1988 radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin published in the Nature in 1989. The radiocarbon dating has been controversial as the sample taken from the Shroud is believed to be contaminated. Arguing from a novel statistical point of view, the current analysis, within the confines of the data provided in the Nature article, further confirms their radiocarbon dates for the Shroud of Turin. It also finds the opposing argument that their result is untenable due to the shortcomings of sample selection arising from the localised heterogeneity such as invisible mending in the selected sample, to be highly unlikely."

Review of 'The Shroud of Turin: Radiation Effects, Aging, and Image Formation' by Ray Rogers by Robert A. Rucker, Giulio Fanti, Mark Antonacci, Tony Flemming, and Keith Propp - Academia.edu - June 28, 2016.

Here is a link to Rogers' 2005 paper to facilitate consideration of arguments pro and con.

Rigor Mortis and News obtained by the Body’s Scientific Reconstruction of the Turin Shroud Man by M. Bevilacqua, G. Concheri, S. Concheri, G. Fanti and S. Rodella - Peertechz Journal of Forensic Science and Technology, 26 January 2018. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"...This model confirmed the evident rigor mortis of the human body and evidenced the particular posture corresponding to the position on the cross that also showed a rotation never detected previously of the human body around his spine. The study of this 3D model partially confi rmed previous results but also evidenced interesting news, like the position of the exit hole of the nail posed on the palm of the hand..."

Role of calcium carbonate in fibre discoloration on the Shroud of Turin by M. Sue Benford, Joseph G. Marino, Chemistry Today vol 26 n 2 / March-April 2008.

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "...Scientific tests revealed that the image color resides on the topmost fibers at the highest parts of the weave resulting from a chemical surface change in the linen. We propose and preliminarily test a novel hypothesis that precipitated calcium carbonate crystal, originating from a natural fabric washing process, played a significant role in the starch surface discoloration..."

Role of Capillarity in the Image Formation Process by Marcel Alonso  (.pdf format) [293k] [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference) (13 color photos)

In this interesting paper, Marcel examines the properties of the bloodstains and images on the Shroud in light of recent research by Ray Rogers and others.

Role of the Internet in the Future of Shroud Research, The by Barrie M. Schwortz

This paper was originally delivered at the 1998 Turin Symposium on June 7, 1998. It presents in detail the many ways that the Internet will be used to further Shroud research in the future. It features direct links to references and sites examples that are already in use on this and other websites. The author is the host and webmaster of The Shroud of Turin Website, the largest and most extensive Shroud resource on the Internet.

Link to Il Ruolo Di Internet Nel Futuro Della Ricerca Sulla Sindone (Italian Language version of this paper on the Collegamento pro Sindone Website).

Role of the Internet in Current Shroud Research, The by Barrie M. Schwortz  (.pdf format) [31k]

Demonstrating new developments on his fascinating, invaluable and award-winning website on the Shroud of Turin. (From the 1999 Richmond Conference)

Role of Radiation in Image Formation on the Shroud of Turin by Robert A. Rucker, October 11, 2016. Academia.edu. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"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..." Use this link for the latest version of this article: List of Papers by Robert Rucker on his Shroud Research Net website

Sample Handling in Radiocarbon Dating by Accelerator with Special Reference to the Turin Shroud - Robert Hedges - Analytical Proceedings, February 1990, (v.)27:45. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from this brief article (which begins with some very technical material):

"…The work on the Turin Shroud involved most of the procedures indicated above. A full account is published in Nature, 1989, 337 (6208), 611--615. From our point of view, the most important result was that three laboratories could agree over four samples, when measured "blind," to an accuracy of better than 0.5%, although starting with textile samples which had had an unknown but potentially contaminating history…"

Scanning Electron Microscopic Characterization and Elemental Analysis of One Hair Located on the Face of the Turin Shroud by Gérard Lucotte and Thierry Thomasset - Archaeological Discovery, Vol.05 No.01(2017), Article ID:72729,21 pages. [10 October 2017] Here is the Abstract:

"As a contribution to the scientific knowledge of the Turin Shroud, we have studied by SEM-EDX a small hair fragment (14 × 9 µ) contained in a blood stain located in the Face between the two eyebrows. SEM study of this fragment shows the typical human scale hair pattern. EDX analysis of the fragment indicates that it is mainly made of organic matter, plus a little sulphur peak. The hair fragment was at both cut extremities with a razor blade formed of copper. Comparisons with present hairs of different sorts show that the hair fragment is a shaven down-hair. High-resolution SEM analysis of the pattern of residual melanosomes on the hair surface explains the blond-red colour of this hair observed in optical microscopy."

[Editor's Note: The authors based their study on the examination of a sticky tape sample they claim was taken from a blood stain on the face of the Shroud in 1978 by Prof. Giovanni Riggi di Numana. However, as I photographically documented the entire 1978 examination, including all of Riggi's experiments, I can attest that no one took any tape samples from the Shroud face in 1978. In fact, during Max Frei's tape sampling experiments (which were the first experiments performed during the 1978 examination), it was decided that no one would apply any sticky tape to the Shroud face. This applied to Frei and to Ray Rogers, who had developed the only other tape sampling experiment of the examination. Consequently, I can only conclude that the authors' claim is in error and the sample they obtained from the Riggi de Numana Collection must have been taken by Riggi when the c14 samples were cut from the Shroud in 1988].

Science and the Shroud of Turin by Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph. D., May 2015, Magis Center of Reason and Faith. [19 Sept 2016]

Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. is a highly respected scholar, author and lecturer and President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith, an organization that provides responses to four popular secular myths: 1. The false conflict between Faith and Science. 2. The false conflict between Suffering and the Love of God. 3. The false conflict between Virtue and Freedom. 4. The false conflict between the historical Jesus and “the Jesus of the Gospels.” Father Spitzer is also the host of the popular television program "Father Sptizer's Universe" on EWTN. In this article he reviews the scientific and historical data and provides his own perspective on the Shroud of Turin.

Science, Art and the Shroud by Vladimir Moss, Academia.edu, November 5, 2014 [6 November 2019]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "A recent book on the Turin Shroud, the most detailed and comprehensive yet, raises again the question: how should we, as Orthodox Christians, evaluate and react to this extraordinary object?... However, nobody has yet been able to give us even a remotely plausible answer to the question: if it is a forgery, how was it made? And until somebody answers this question, the central question, is it the authentic burial shroud of Christ? must remain open..."

"Science by Press Release?" An Editorial Response by Barrie Schwortz  (.pdf format) [10k]

On October 6, 2009, Italian Prof. Luigi Garlaschelli issued a press release to the Reuters News Service, announcing he had "reproduced" the Shroud image using medieval technologies, thus proving it a fake. This is an editorial response by Barrie Schwortz published on this website on October 7, 2009.

"Science by Press Release (Again)" Another Editorial Response by Barrie Schwortz  (.pdf format) [12k]

On November 20, 2009, Italian researcher Barbara Frale issued a press release to the Associated Press, announcing she had discovered inscriptions on the Shroud image that proves it is authentic. This is an editorial response by Barrie Schwortz published on this website on November 21, 2009.

Science, Conflict and the Devotional Artifact: A Social Cartography of the Turin Shroud Controversy by Patricia H. Macmillan – A dissertation submitted to the faculty of graduate studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy, graduate program in sociology, York University, Toronto, Ontario – September 2012 (250 pages) [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

“This dissertation comprises an historical case study of a scientific controversy concerning the provenance, authenticity and material attributes of a Catholic devotional artifact known as the Shroud of Turin, an ancient linen burial cloth imprinted with a faint image of a man who bears the marks of a Roman crucifixion. Beginning with an account of a 1978 scientific inquiry into the shroud carried out by a team of American scientists, this project traces the charged epistemic disputes that unfolded among scientific and non-scientific actors over the question of the shroud’s historical status, which endured for years following the inquiry. It is argued here that scientific disputes concerning a devotional artifact lend distinctive insights into how we might comprehend the conditions underlying epistemic conflict, the agential role of material objects in configuring and circumscribing controversy, and the reasons why closure in controversy is complicated by scientists’ reverence to the socio-material ambiguities of the devotional artifact itself…” [Editor’s Note: This link is to a complete thesis rather than a standard paper, but we felt it was important enough to make it available to our viewers. Our thanks to Bill Meacham for locating it and letting us know about it.]

Science Meets the Shroud of Turin, Part 1 by John Long - Bible and Spade Magazine, Fall 2017 Issue, Associates for Biblical Research. Here is an excerpt:

"It is science that most accounts for the continuing interest in this old linen. Put simply, is what is to be seen on the Shroud the work of a late medieval artist, or could it be directly due to the death and resurrection of Christ? What follows is an introduction to three readily available sources for what modern science has learned about the Shroud of Turin..."

Scientific Analysis of the Shroud of Turin (Abstract) by Leoncio A. Garza-Valdes, M.D. No longer available. Sorry.

This link is to an article found on the Holy Shroud Guild Website and presents the Abstract of Dr. Garza-Valdes' recent research. This was first presented at the Texas Medieval Association on September 11, 1993 in San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

The scientific approach vs the open ‘Linen of Turin questions’ is it the right one? by Giovanni Fazio. The Journal of The Textile Institute, Published online: 26 Jan 2016. Article behind pay wall. Here is the abstract:

"In this paper, we discuss the possible influences on the final results due to faith or nonfaith of researchers which study the Linen of Turin. Moreover, we show the state of confusion generated by self-styled scientists through interventions in modest reviews and web censor articles published in peer-reviewed International Journals. In addition, in order to avoid future inextricable confusion (so-called Babel’s Tower), we remember the simple rules that must be adopted with the aim to solve the still open 'Shroud questions'. "

Scientific Investigation of the Shroud of Turin by E.J. Jumper and R.W. Mottern - Applied Optics, Vol. 19, No. 12, 1980, pp. 1909-1912.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Scientific Issues and Shroud Research in the 1990's by Larry A. Schwalbe

Written in 1990, this article provides the author's perspective on the future of Shroud research. Larry Schwalbe was an original member of STURP, the team that performed the first in-depth scientific examination of the Shroud in 1978 and has published many papers on the subject. This paper also originally appeared in "Shroud Spectrum International" and again I thank Dorothy Crispino, publisher and editor, for permission to reprint it here. The article can also be accessed via the "Shroud Conservation" page.

Scientific Method Applied to the Shroud of Turin: A Review by Raymond N. Rogers and Anna Arnoldi  (.pdf format) [564k] [August 2002] (Includes 27 color illustrations)

Provides an excellent overview of known Shroud data, documents his chemical analysis of Shroud samples relevant to the Marino/Benford hypothesis, reviews other Shroud theories relative to the C-14 analysis and even points out corroboration for the Marino/Benford theory in the ultraviolet-fluorescence photographs made in 1978.

A Scientific Search for New Images on the Holy Shroud of Turin by Computer Enhancement by Donald Devan, Eric Jumper, Ph.D. and John Jackson, Ph.D. - 1974 - (Previously unpublished) [30 Sept 2021]

This paper provides an interesting look at the state of imaging technology circa 1974, around two years before the genesis of the STURP team. We have come a long way since then. Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "The Shroud has held a special interest in our minds for many years as it has for so many others. Because of our fields of expertise in science, it was natural for us to examine ways in which knowledge of the Shroud might be increased using the tools of our trade. One of the thoughts that came to mind was to attempt to increase this knowledge through the use of computer techniques developed in recent years for the purpose of enhancing or improving photographic images for subsequent scientific re-evaluation..."

The Scorch Hypothesis: New Experiments by Thibault Heimburger [5 October 2014]

This paper is a follow up to Thibault's earlier paper The Turin Shroud Body Image: The Scorch Hypothesis Revisited, originally published in October 2012 on Dan Porter's Shroud blog. In both articles, Thibault tries to answer the question: Is the Shroud of Turin image a scorch? As always, Thibault's experiments are detailed and meticulous and his report is profusely illustrated with many photographs and illustrations.

The Scourge of Jesus and the Roman Scourge: Historical and Archaeological Evidence by Andrea Nicolotti - Academia.edu - 2017 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the introduction: "According to the Gospels, Jesus suffered the flagellation before his crucifixion. The texts do not clarify the form and materials of the scourge that was utilized. Since the beginnings of the modern era, several commentators have speculated about the scourge's form, on the basis of the Greek-Roman literary evidence and with reference to flagellation relics. In the last few centuries, scholars have provided new indications that are exemplified in great dictionaries and encyclopedic works of Greek-Roman archaeology and antiquities, as well as in the consultation works available to biblical scholars. However, a close re-examination of the whole evidence compels us to dismiss nearly all data and to conclude that we know almost nothing about the materials and form of the scourge used at Jesus' time." See a critique of this paper by archaeologist William Meacham: On Nicolotti, the Flagrum and the Shroud.

Seeing Inscriptions on the Shroud of Turin: The Role of Psychological Influences in the Perception of Writing by Timothy R. Jordan, Mercedes Sheen, Lily Abedipour and Kevin B. Paterson - PLOS, October 28, 2015. [8 June 2017] Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"...recently, other reports have suggested that the Shroud also contains evidence of inscriptions, and these reports have been used to add crucial support to the view that the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus. Unfortunately, these reports of inscriptions are based on marks that are barely visible on the Shroud, even when images are enhanced, and the actual existence of writing on the Shroud is still a matter of considerable debate."

Sermon of Gregory Referendarius, The by Mark Guscin (.pdf format) [110k] [January 2004] (Includes photograph of original manuscript)

In this extremely important paper, Mark, an expert linguist, translates the sermon given by Gregory Referendarius in 944. The sermon was pronounced on the occasion of the arrival of the Image of Edessa in Constantinople. It was translated into English from the only known surviving manuscript of the sermon, recently rediscovered in the Vatican Archives by Italian classics scholar Gino Zaninotto.

Addendum to Translation of Sermon by Gregory Referendarius by Mark Guscin (.pdf format) [18k] [January 2008] (Update to his earlier paper)

In his introduction to this 2008 update of the above paper, Mark Guscin states: "Further consideration and consultation about the Greek text of the sermon attributed to Gregory Referendarius has led to me reconsider my original position about the supposed reference to the side wound."

The Shroud: A Critical Summary of Observations, Data and Hypotheses by Robert W. Siefker and Dr. Daniel S. Spicer [Updated October 2014]

The only purpose of TSC’s Critical Summary is to provide a synthesis of the TSC team’s thinking and understanding about the Shroud. Our evaluation of scientific, medical forensic and historical hypotheses presented here is based on TSC’s internal research, STURP data, studies by other groups or persons as appropriate, and published literature. (From a separate Preface to the article).

The Shroud and the Gospels Among History, Science and Faith - Some epistemological remarks by Alessandro Malantrucco - IV Symposium Scientifique International du CIELT, April 25-26, 2002, Paris, France [21 January 2019]

This is an older paper from the IV Symposium Scientifique International du CIELT and we are happy that after all these years we can add it here and on the Paris Conference page of this site. Our thanks to Alessandro for making it available to us.

The Shroud Blood Science of Dr. Pierluigi Baima Bollone: Another look at potassium, among other things by Kelly Kearse and Thibault Heimburger [21 January 2014]

In this excellent paper, recently published on Dan Porter's Shroud of Turin Blog, Kelly Kearse joins forces with noted French Shroud scholar Dr. Thibault Heimburger to provide an excellent evaluation of Prof. Baima-Bollone's work and a comparison of his work to that of STURP researchers Dr. Alan Adler and Dr. John Heller.

The Shroud Body Image Generation. Immanent or Transcendent Action? by Giovanni Fazio - Scientia et Fides, Volume 8 (1)/2020 [1 June 2020]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: “In this article, we shall study the mechanism of the Shroud body image formation with the help of both natural sciences and religion. The various possibilities can be divided into three groups of hypothesis: the first one is that of the fake, the second one is the miracle and the third one of the natural event…” [Editor’s Note: Once on the page, click the “download the pdf” link to access the article].

The Shroud, Geology and the Rock of Ages by Fr. Erich Junger - Academia.edu - 2019 [7 November 2020] - Here is the Abstract:

“A literary evaluation of the soils, particles and geologic materials contained on the Shroud of Turin is performed through the lens of Forensic Geology and Provenance Determination. While the Shroud of Turin is not an item of forensic evidence per se, the use of forensic methodologies, particularly forensic geology, is useful provided that unreasonable expectations and conclusions are avoided. A review of the particle examinations performed by previous authors is considered, along with potential archaeological site comparisons made through the works of other researchers. Suggestions for future research are also considered.”

Shroud in the News for Christmas 2011, The - An Editorial Response by Barrie Schwortz [January 21, 2012]

Editorial response addressing the many Shroud stories that permeated the news just before Christmas 2011.

Shroud-like Coloration of Linen by Nanosecond Laser Pulses in the Vacuum Ultraviolet by P. Di Lazzaro, D. Murra, E. Nichelatti, A. Santoni, G. Baldacchini - ENEA Report. This is a 2015 updated version of their 2012 paper. A similar paper by the same authors also appeared in the peer reviewed journal Applied Optics, Vol. 51, Issue 36, pp. 8567-8578 (2012), titled Superficial and Shroud-like coloration of linen by short laser pulses in the vacuum ultraviolet. [21 January 2013]

Abstract: We present a survey on five-years experiments of excimer laser irradiation of linen fabrics, seeking for a coloration mechanism able to reproduce the microscopic complexity of the body image embedded onto the Shroud of Turin. We achieved a superficial Shroud-like coloration in a narrow range of irradiation parameters. We also obtained latent coloration that appears after artificial or natural aging of linen following laser irradiations that at first did not generate any visible effect. Most importantly, we have recognized distinct photo-chemical processes that account for both coloration and latent coloration. These processes may have played a role in the generation of the body image on the Shroud of Turin.

Shroud "Make Over", The: Science or Marketing? by Bruno Barberis

On October 6, 2009, Italian Prof. Luigi Garlaschelli issued a press release to the Reuters News Service, announcing he had "reproduced" the Shroud image using medieval technologies, thus proving it a fake. This is a link to the response by Bruno Barberis published on the Archdiocese of Turin website on October 9, 2009.

The Shroud of Turin by Raymond F. Hain III. Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Published online March 23, 2016 . Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

"The Shroud of Turin was on public display from April 19, 2015 through June 24, 2015 in the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. More than two million visitors came to Turin from around the world to view the Shroud. 'Some say the 14-foot piece of linen is Christ’s burial cloth. They point to what appears to be the imprinted image of a man bearing wounds from a crucifixion. Others say the whole thing is a medieval forgery. Regardless, the shroud has remained a wildly popular attraction for pilgrims from around the world.'”

The Shroud of Turin - A Critical Assessment by Atle Ottesen Søvik

This article is a translation of the article “Likkledet i Torino – en kritisk vurdering," published in Teologisk Tidsskrift (Journal of Theology), no 3, 2013: 266-294 [7 June 2014] - This article discusses the question of whether the Shroud of Turin is the real burial cloth of Jesus, and it consists of four parts. First I present facts about the Shroud. Then I discuss whether the image comes from a corpse or is artificially produced another way, and conclude that it comes from a corpse. This means that if it is a forgery, a corpse was used to create the image. After that, I briefly discuss whether it may be the burial cloth of an unknown crucified man, and argue that it must be the burial cloth of Jesus or a forgery meant to resemble Jesus. Finally, I discuss the crucial question of when the image was formed: is it a forgery from the fourteenth century or is it the real burial cloth of Jesus from AD 30?

"The Shroud of Turin: A Response To Ian Wilson" by Andrea Micolotti. Catholic Historical Review, Winter 2024, 110(1):102-110 (Behind pay wall only). Here is an excerpt from the letter:

“Although his review is titled ‘Is the Shroud of Turin a Fake?,’ in reality it does not provide any answer to that question. Wilson is a prolific sindonologist: I believe his animosity toward me stems from the fact that, in my studies, I have repeatedly critiqued his theories on the Shroud. In the very brief space afforded me in this letter, I will point out only the most glaring flaws in his review, errors which in my estimation render it wholly unreliable.”

The Shroud of Turin: an archeological piece anchoring Jesus' crucifixion in history by Michel Valois - Academia.edu - September 2020. [21 January 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"The Shroud of Turin, Italy, if genuine, is of an exceptional nature, as the almost only object that can claim the status of Jesus-related archeological piece. As such, it can be and is researched by any scientific method. Its successive owners, presently the Holy See, never opposed such a research. It is said to be the "most studied object in the world." Several scientific studies have recognized it authentic, such as the 1902 survey by the French agnostic medical doctor Yves Delage who said it was "the image of Christ," or the 1978/79 multidisciplinary approach by forty American scientists who said it was "not the work of an artist…"

Shroud of Turin and Sudarium of Oviedo, Possible Burial Fabrics at the Tomb of Jesus of Nazareth (English) - Sudario de Oviedo y Síndone de Turin, Posibles Linzos Sepulcrales de Jesús de Nazaret (en español) by Guillermo Heras Moreno, Vice-President of Research and Training, Spanish Center for Sindonology (Centro Español de Sindonologia - CES), August 2016. [Editor's Note: This is a summary of data compiled over the years by the CES, some of which has been previously published in papers at various conferences. This is the most up-to-date and fully illustrated summary of their findings, available in both English and Spanish language versions]. Here is a brief excerpt from the introduction:

"Can we relate the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Shroud of Turin as belonging to the same corpse? If so, is it reasonable to believe this may have been the corpse of Jesus of Nazareth? In other words: Are the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Shroud of Turin the burial cloths mentioned in the Gospel texts as "Shroud" in the Synoptics and "Sudarium" in the Gospel of John?"

The Shroud of Turin between history and science: an ongoing debate by Salvatore Lorusso, Chiara Matteucci, Andrea Natali, Tania Chinni, Laura Solla, Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage, Vol. 11, 2011.

Here is the abstract: "The Shroud of Turin has passed through centuries of history, has travelled and has experienced events, which have only partially been recorded in documentary sources. Popular-cultural tradition has now accepted it as being the Shroud of the historical Christ. Nevertheless, public opinion has always been divided between those who believe in its authenticity and those who do not. Since the seventies there have been various wide-ranging study campaigns devoted to unravelling the mystery. Today the Shroud has become once more the centre of attention for the scientific world on the occasion of its last exposition. This paper aims to present a chronology of the investigative phases conducted so far and to put forward a new proposal in the field of image analysis and artistic diagnosis."

The Shroud of Turin: Christianity's Most Famous Relic by Andrew R. Casper. Originally published in Medieval World: Culture and Conflict,, Issue 7, 2023. Here is the introduction:

“The Shroud of Turin, the supposed burial cloth of Jesus, is Christianity’s most famous and controversial relic. Whereas debates over the authenticity of the bloodstained images of Christ’s dead body dominate current discourse on the Shroud, suspicions about its origins go back to the 1300s. But by the 1500s and 1600s, other relics of Christ, which formerly thrived as objects of medieval devotion, underwent fluctuating fortunes that allowed the Shroud to emerge as one of Europe’s preeminent Christian artifacts.”

Shroud of Turin's 'Blood' Images, The: Blood, or Paint? History of Science Inquiry by David Ford  (.pdf format) [118k]

David brings a fresh point-of-view to this often-debated topic with his thoroughly researched conclusions. He was a frequent contributor to alt.turin-shroud, the Shroud Newsgroup hosted by Bill Meacham.

Shroud of Turin, The: An Amino-Carbonyl Reaction (Maillard Reaction) May Explain The Image Formation by Raymond N. Rogers and Anna Arnoldi  (.pdf format) [196k] [July 2004] (Includes 4 color illustrations).

This paper originally appeared in Melanoidins vol. 4, Ames J.M. ed., Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 2003, pp.106-113. The paper demonstrates that a complex but well documented, naturally occurring chemical reaction may explain all of the known image chemistry of the Shroud of Turin and provide us with an important clue in determining the actual image formation mechanism. Ray's work is detailed and scientific and necessarily, quite technical in nature. Even if you don't have a degree in chemistry, the points he makes are quite understandable, the papers are well researched and well written and the conclusions are very clear.

The Shroud of Turin and Extra Sheds of Warping Threads. How Hard can it be to Set up a 3/1 Chevron Twill, Herringbone on a Warp-weighted Loom? by Antoinette Meret Olsen - EXARC Journal Issue 2020/4 - November 25, 2020 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the Conclusion: "…When I wove the plain 3/1 chevron twill on my warp-weighted loom, the weft passed over six single warping threads (3 double warping threads) and under two single warping threads (1double warping thread), Since the shed rod and heddle rod nr 2 are not threaded opposite of each other, I got one extra shed in the weave, while weaving the 3/1 chevron twill, which means that I was weaving a double weave. My test results, as I have described them in this article, tells me that the Shroud of Turin cannot have been woven on a warp-weighted loom. The Shroud of Turin must have been woven on a treadle loom."

The Shroud of Turin and its ancient copies by César Barta and Alfonso V. Carrascosa, Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 7(29), pp. 2526-2544, 30 July, 2012. [6 November 2019]

Older paper but a fully illustrated, in-depth study comparing the Shroud to its documented copies. Here is an excerpt from the opening statement: "...The negativity, the absence of contour, the absence of the figure at the hidden side and the transparency of the Shroud image differ considerably from their copies. Moreover, the laboratory analyses confirmed the presence of pigments based on heavy elements. In our opinion, the original Shroud of Turin can not be the work of a painter."

Shroud of Turin and Its Radiodating, The by Maria-Grazia Siliato from the 1993 Rome Shroud Symposium - Translation by Dr. Augusto Monacelli [5 October 2014]

This paper was originally presented at the 1993 Rome Shroud Symposium, long before Benford and Marino conducted their research. In it, Siliato discusses evidence of repairs and extraneous woven materials detected in Shroud samples and states, among other things, "It was manipulated many times for mending and restoration works."

The Shroud of Turin and the Sainte-Chapelle of Paris by Mario Latendresse, originally published in the Newsletter of the British Society for the Turin Shroud, 2018. Now available on Academia.edu.

Here is a description by the author: "After analyzing many historical documents over the last five years, I think that this is the most likely route of the Shroud from Constantinople to Lirey. Compared to such theses as the Templars or Othon de la Roche, this thesis strictly follows the historical documents for which we have no doubt about their authenticity. That thesis was first proposed by Father André-Marie Dubarle and Hilda Leynen, both deceased today, but it did not spread as much as it should have been in the English-speaking world. Moreover, many details about the inventories of the Holy Cloth relic at the Sainte-Chapelle, most likely the Mandylion, had not been published before. This paper contains translations into English of several key inventories of the Holy Cloth relic of the Sainte-Chapelle. The details of these inventories are fascinating, revealing that the officials are most likely hiding the loss of the Holy Cloth, and pretending that the reliquary, containing a painting of the face of Christ, is the relic. The inventories of the Sainte-Chapelle are the missing link from Lirey to Constantinople and the connection between the Shroud and the Mandylion, a direct route coherent with all known historical documents."

Shroud of Turin: C-14 Arizona 2 Sample Revised Zone Of Collection by David R. Maier – Academia.edu – July 12, 2020. Here is the introduction:

“In researching the Shroud of Turin it has been observed that the Carbon 14 (C-14) Arizona secondary sample was not cut from the Reserve Sample’s inboard end (area towards the main body of the Shroud) as is currently held (shown in dotted red lines immediately below), but was cut from the outboard area (area that was closest to the edge of the Shroud).”

The 'Shroud of Turin Debunked' Videos -- Debunked by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – January 24, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

“If one searches on YouTube for videos about the Shroud of Turin, the reputed burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth and just put in “shroud of turin” in the search box, YouTube will supply other search choices, such as: *shroud of turin Jesus *shroud of turin latest *shroud of turin documentary etc. But one will also be supplied: *shroud of turin debunked. It should be noted that YouTube videos should not be a researchers’ primary source of information, on the Shroud or any other topic for that matter. One can certainly find legitimate information on YouTube, but one also must be willing to separate the wheat from the chaff. I recently saw someone who didn’t believe the Shroud is authentic warn that one has to be careful about information about it put forth on the Internet. What forum did they use? – a YouTube video – on the Internet…”

Shroud of Turin Fact Sheet by Brian Cray - Academia.edu - 2016 [7 November 2020] - This paper provides an overview of both the Shroud and the Sudarium of Oviedo. Here is the introduction:

“Much of the early story is fragmentary, some is only circumstantial, and some mere legend. Nonetheless, much of what we do know is clear, corroborated and documented history. It is a history that tells us that the Shroud of Turin and the Edessa Cloth are most likely one and the same piece of cloth.”

Shroud of Turin, The: Genuine Artifact or Manufactured Relic? by Jack Kilmon

This is a link to an article that appeared in "The Glyph," the Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America (San Diego). Mr. Kilmon argues in favor of authenticity and offers a comprehensive review of the scientific facts about the Shroud, siting references for many of them. The article includes closeup photographs of the Shroud and an illustration of the entombed and enshrouded Jesus of Nazareth found in a prayer book from Budapest known as the Pray Manuscript. Kilmon states, "The illustration not only depicts the unique "L" pattern of burn holes but also the unique weave pattern of the shroud. There can be no mistake that the Pray Manuscript of 1192 was modeled from the Shroud of Turin."

Shroud of Turin, The: A Historiographical Approach by Tristian Casabianca (Abstract Only) [May 2013]

Criteria of historical assessment are applied to the Turin Shroud to determine which hypothesis relating to the image formation process is the most likely. To implement this, a ‘Minimal Facts’ approach is followed that takes into account only physicochemical and historical data receiving the widest consensus among contemporary scientists.

Shroud of Turin Jesus or Akiane Kramarik Jesus by Edwin Stok - Academia.edu - July 26, 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"Akiane Kramarik painted a beautiful "Prince of Peace" at the age of 8. This was how she had seen Jesus of Nazareth in her vision. Her painting was independently confirmed by Colton Burpo at the age of 7. This was the Jesus he had seen during his emergency surgery at the age of 4. Akiane and Colton had never met and had never spoken with each other…"

The Shroud of Turin: Methods and Perspectives by Gianfranco Berbenni - 'Sapienza della Croce,' Review of Culture and Cross Spirituality (1996, January - March) pp. 5 - 22 [Rome, Italy] [8 May 2022]. Here is the abstract:

"A year after the death of Mons. Giulio Ricci (6 February 1995) the article intends to summarise the current state of the ¡°Shroud question¡± and, based on twenty years. scientific experience, to point out some opportunities for further study. The author intends to re-examine various hypotheses - that of a photographic negative, of an image caused by ¡°unknown. energy that might well be located on the outer limits of the extraordinary and attempt to lead them back to verifiable explanations. The return to scientific examination of the sacred Cloth should take into account the entire ¡°Proposal¡± which the STRP presented to the Custodian of the Shroud back in 1984."

Shroud of Turin, The: Radiation Effects, Aging & Image Formation by Raymond N. Rogers  (.pdf format) [198k] [June 2005]

In the last months of his life, Ray was able to obtain a new source for irradiating linen with various types of radiation. Using this source, he performed a series of experiments and observations and wrote this final article detailing his conclusions regarding radiation as an image formation mechanism on the Shroud. It includes 12 color and b&w photomicrographs.

The Shroud of Turin, the Relics of Jesus and Eucharistic Miracles: The Significance of Type AB blood by Kelly Kearse, Academia.edu, 19 May 2019.

Here is the abstract: "Various relics ascribed to have been in physical contact with Jesus have been evaluated for the presence of blood, including the Tunic of Argenteuil, the Sudarium of Oviedo, and most famously,the Shroud of Turin. Congruence was reported for certain bloodstain patterns that overlap betweenrelics, suggesting that they may have been associated with the same person. Interestingly, in allcases the blood type was found to be AB, which has also been described for certain Eucharisticmiracles. Here, we discuss the theological and scientific significance of shared blood type andcomment on the scientific validity of these findings."

The Shroud of Turin Through the Microscope by S. Pellicori and M. Evans - Archaeology, January/February 1981, pp. 34-43.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Shroud of Turin ultraviolet light images: color and information content - Thomas McAvoy - OSA Publishing, Applied Optics, Volume 60, Issue 22, pp. 6604-6613, August 1, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] (Abstract only - the full article is behind a pay wall) - Here is the abstract:

"This paper builds on an earlier paper [Appl. Opt. 58, 6958 (2019) [CrossRef]] that analyzed web ultraviolet light (uv) photographs of the Shroud of Turin. In the earlier paper, it is shown that the Shroud exhibits very unique spatially varying uv fluorescence properties. The web uv images have colors significantly different from versions of them published in 1981. This paper examines whether the color difference indicates that the web images have deteriorated over time and if so whether information content in them is suspect. The limitations of the methodology used are discussed in the Introduction. Subject to these limitations, it is shown that deterioration probably has not occurred and that significant information can be extracted through image processing of the uv web images."

[Editor's Note: The author has expressed certain concerns about the methodology used to scan Vern Miller's original film. He stated, "I did not want researchers using the color corrected images on shroudphotos.com for intensity analysis, which would lead to incorrect results." However, the images would still be viable for use in color analysis, which reveals certain chemical differences on the cloth.]

Sight and brain: an introduction to the visually misleading images by Daniele Murra [May 2010] (From the Proceedings of the 2010 Frascati Conference)

This paper clearly explains how the limits of human visual perception come into play when studying the image(s) on the Shroud of Turin. I consider it a must read for any serious Shroud scholar.

Signos de Vida en la Figura de la Síndone de Turín (Signs of Life in the Figure of the Shroud of Turin) by Bernardo Hontanilla Calatayud, M.D., Ph.D. - (En Español - Paper in Spanish - Abstract in English) - Scientia et Fides, Vol. 8(1)/2020 - [7 November 2020] - Here is the English Abstract:

“In this article several signs of life present in the Shroud of Turin are pointed out. Following the development of rigor mortis, the body posture of the image on the Shroud is analyzed. This, together with the presence of specific facial folds indicate that the person wrapped in it is alive. Therefore, the image on the Shroud of Turin shows both signs of death and life in a person whose image was imprinted when he was alive.”

A Simple, Natural Mechanism for the Transfer of Dry Bloodstains onto the Shroud of Turin by Kelly Kearse - International Journal of Archaeology, Volume 11 Issue 2 - September 8, 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"…The bloodstains have been demonstrated to contain authentic blood components including hemoglobin, albumin, and immunoglobulin, although the species of origin remains to be determined. Controversy exists regarding the proposed blood transfer from a body to the cloth, particularly if certain bloodstains occurred in a dry state. The suggestion has been made that dried blood was thrust onto the cloth by a brief radiation burst emitted from the body, although demonstration of such a process is lacking. Here, a simple, natural mechanism is shown that could account for the imprinting of dried bloodstains onto the Shroud…"

Sindone di Torino: la ricerca scientifica (Shroud of Turin: The Scientific Research) by Massimo Rogante - Archeomatica, Vol. 4 (2017), pp. 6-11. (Italian language). [21 June 2018] The abstract is in English:

"In this article, after a historiographical introduction, a state of the art concerning the analysis of the Turin Shroud is represented, with an exposition of the main results obtained in recent decades by scientific research on the Shroud and its image. The studies and experiments conducted by the author are therefore briefly described, employing neutron techniques for the analysis of new and old linen fibers and considering these techniques for a potential investigation of the Shroud. The activity is aimed at providing useful and suitable information to be included in the complex mosaic of data to understand the mystery of the Shroud."

Sindonology: Vehicle For and Against Authenticity of the Turin Shroud by Anthony Luis Hernandez - Bethpage High School, Bethpage, New York, February 2, 2017 - An excellent STUDENT PAPER with an interesting perspective on Shroud research. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail Anthony sent me: "My project was a kind of meta-analysis of existing sindonological evidence, comparing how evidence in six areas of Shroud study affected both the authenticity and forgery perspectives on the Shroud's identity. I first presented my completed project before my research class about a month ago, and a week later my classmates and I went to the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair. Though my project did not place at LISEF, I was overwhelmed by the positive response my project received, dispelling many doubts I had had about judges being concerned over the subject matter." Well done Anthony! Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"Over time, sindonology, the scientific study of the Turin Shroud, has expanded as a combination of academic disciplines, working together to come up with hypotheses as to the true identity of the Shroud. This investigation aimed to analyze the contributions of sindonology to two perspectives on the Turin Shroud’s identity, one being that the Shroud is a medieval forgery, the other being that the Shroud is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus."

The socio-politic of a relic: carbon dating the Turin Shroud - Ph.D. dissertation by H. Laverdiere, University of Bath, 1989. The dissertation is free to download with registration. Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

"The Michelin guide to Italy gives it 3 stars. It is probably the most widely known Christian relic. It is kept in a brownish chapel in Turin's Cathedral, next to the Palazzo Reale. The present Pope, John Paul II, is said to have a longstanding special interest in it. On the few occasions when it has been displayed in the last centuries, millions of visitors have been to view it... This thesis deals with the scientific investigation it generated and more specifically the carbon dating test which was performed in 1988 and was seen by most as the test to end all tests."

Some Ancient Reproductions of the Turin Shroud: How Well do they Compare with the Original? by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - February 6, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the article: "…This article aims to look at some ancient reproductions (pre-1898, the common date used for the beginning of the modern study) of the Shroud and determine, as best as possible, whether it is plausible that a forger in the Middle Ages could have produced the Shroud. Photos of reproductions (in chronological order) will be shown, with additional information from the text of the source or the photos' captions..."

Some Anthropological Evidence Pertinent to the Shroud of Turin by Donald J. Lynn - circa 1980 - (Previously unpublished) [30 Sept 2021] - Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"I would like to pass along some anthropological evidence which is pertinent to our Shroud research. This information was gleaned from papers provided to me by Ms. Virginia Bartin who writes for Biblical Archaeologist, a periodical published by the American Schools of Oriental Research. Of particular interest is a paper by N. Haas which describes the contents of fifteen limestone ossuaries found in 1968 in three burial caves at Giv'at ha-Mivtar, Jerusalem..."

Some Details About the STURP Quad Mosaic Images by Barrie Schwortz [May 2013]

This article was originally written in 2003 and was made available only to the online Shroud Science Group. Ray Rogers had pointed out in a posting to the group that this image is another important piece of scientific evidence supporting the belief that the area sampled for the C14 dating in 1988 was anomalous. I wrote the article with the assistance of Jean Lorre, original STURP imaging team member from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who had performed the image processing. I updated it in 2011 since the topic of the STURP Quad Mosaic images continues to be discussed and debated.

Some experiments and remarks regarding the possible formation of blood stains on the Turin Shroud: stains attributed to the crown of thorns, the lance wound and the belt of blood by KÖNIG, L. - SCHMÖLDERS, R. - JÛHLING, M. et al. - International Journal of Legal Medicine - February 11, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "The Turin Shroud (TS) is a Christian relic interpreted to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. It exhibits red discolorations that have been interpreted as blood stains and that are the subjects of a highly controversial discussion. We conducted experiments to identify theoretically possible explanations for the stains attributed to the crown of thorns, the lance wound and the belt of blood…"

'Someone just got a piece of linen, faked it up, and flogged it:' Professor Edward Hall and the Turin Shroud by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - April 15, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "I recently wrote an article titled 'The Perennial Problem of Dishonesty in Science. Has it occurred in Research on the Turin Shroud?' In it I put forth the statement that dishonesty in science is not uncommon, and that there is plenty of evidence of it in the case of the study of the Turin Shroud, which is a controversial and emotional subject… Because of its apparent connection to Jesus, the Shroud is certainly fertile ground for intellectual dishonesty and duplicity. The late Edward T. (Teddy) Hall, who was head of the Oxford University lab, one of three that dated the Shroud in 1988, made the quote shown in the title of this article, shortly after the British Museum announced in October 1988 that the Shroud only dated to: '1260 - 1390!' Notice the out-of-place exclamation point in the date range…"

Some Speculations Concerning the Process Leading to the Formation of the Image on the Shroud of Turin by S. J. Lukasik - 1985 - Previously unpublished.

This is an older, previously unpublished paper, by Stephen J. Lukasik, a physicist who was one of the experts that was involved in the planning of the STURP II project, which sadly, never came to fruition. Lukasik was the Vice-president of the Northrop Corporation, chief scientist at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and director of the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA). He passed away in 2019. Our thanks to Joe Marino for finding this and making it available to us.

Spectral Properties of the Shroud of Turin by S.R. Pellicori - Applied Optics, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp. 1913-1920.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Statistical and Proactive Analysis of an Inter-Laboratory Comparison: The Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin by Paolo Di Lazzaro, Anthony C. Atkinson, Paola Iacomussi, Marco Riani, Marco Ricci and Peter Wadhams - Entropy, Volume 2, Issue 9, 24 August 2020 - This is a condensed version of an original Italian language paper titled, Revisione propositiva dei risultati di radio-datazione della Sindone di Torino - Rapporto Tecnico ENEA, RT/2020/2/ENEA, so we have included links to both. We are also including a link to the Peer-review Record and Reviewer's Comments for the English version of this paper, along with the authors' responses. Here is the abstract from the English version:

"We review the sampling and results of the radiocarbon dating of the archaeological cloth known as the Shroud of Turin, in the light of recent statistical analyses of both published and raw data. The statistical analyses highlight an inter-laboratory heterogeneity of the means and a monotone spatial variation of the ages of subsamples that suggest the presence of contaminants unevenly removed by the cleaning pretreatments. We consider the significance and overall impact of the statistical analyses on assessing the reliability of the dating results and the design of correct sampling. These analyses suggest that the 1988 radiocarbon dating does not match the current accuracy requirements. Should this be the case, it would be interesting to know the accurate age of the Shroud of Turin. Taking into account the whole body of scientific data, we discuss whether it makes sense to date the Shroud again."

This paper was deemed so important that the International Center for the Shroud's Studies (CISS) in Turin issued a rather rare, formal press release about it on September 1, 2020 (in both Italian and English) which we are including here titled, “Dating of the Shroud of Turin.” (English translation starts on page 3).

Stochastic distribution of the fibrils that yielded the Shroud of Turin body image by Fazio, G. and Mandaglio, G.

(2011), Radiation Effects and Defects in Solids, 166: 7, 476 — 479, First published on: 13 April 2011 (iFirst) (Abstract Only without Subscription) [Jan 2012]

Stochastic effects and corona discharge for the Shroud body image generation by Giovanni Fazio & Giuseppe Mandaglio - The Journal of The Textile Institute, Vol. 106, No. 8, 904-906, 26 September 2014. Abstract only. [1 November 2015] Here is the abstract:

"Answers and specifications to the comments of G. Fanti on our recent work are presented. G. Fanti invited us to revise our work, taking into account the recent discoveries on the Shroud of Turin: double superficiality of the image, corona discharge as possible source of the image formation, and continuous variation of color density of the linen fibrils. Our work was mainly devoted to investigate the macroscopic process able to explain almost all characteristics of the Shroud body image, and for such a purpose cited literature was appropriate. About the microscopic processes able to trigger the yellowing of the fibrils constituting the Shroud body image, we could also consider the corona discharge, but further investigations and deepening are necessary."

A Stochastic Process to Explain the Turin Shroud Body Image Formation by Giovanni Fazio.

Journal of Modern Mathematics Frontier (JMMF), Volume 2 Issue 3, September 2013. Full paper available. [Dec 2013]

Studies on the Radiocarbon Sample from the Shroud of Turin by Raymond N. Rogers, Thermochimica Acta 425 (2005) pp.189-194. [January 2005] (Full Paper) [Sept 2010]
Studies on the Radiocarbon Sample from the Shroud of Turin by Raymond N. Rogers, Thermochimica Acta 425 (2005) pp.189-194. [January 2005] (Abstract Only)
Estudios sobre la muestra de radiocarbono del sudario de Turín - Spanish Language Translation by Sasha Struhar

This is a link to Ray's final peer reviewed paper on the Shroud in Thermochimica Acta . It was published on January 20, 2005, only five weeks before his death. In it, Ray proved that the sample used for the radiocarbon dating of the Shroud in 1988 was anomalous. This is probably the most important research paper Ray ever published on the Shroud and is arguably, the most important scientific paper published on the Shroud in last 18 years period. It is the first peer reviewed science to openly challenge the radiocarbon dating of 1988.

Study of a Vision System for the Colorimetric Mapping of the Turin Shroud by M. De Cecco & G. Fanti (.pdf format) [197k] (English)

Studio di un sistema di visione per la mappatura colorimetrica della Sindone di Torino (.pdf format) [192k] (Italian)

This paper was originally presented at the 1998 Turin Symposium and is available in both English and Italian versions. It includes many color and black & white illustrations.

Studying Radiocarbon Papers May Solve the Enigma of the Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin by Remi Van Haelst (.pdf format) [72k] [Sept 2010]

This is a new paper from well known Shroud scholar Remi Van Haelst, who has authored several previous ones that can all be found on this website. Much of Remi's work is in evaluating the 1988 radiocarbon dating using statistical analysis and data from the original c14 dating and other papers. Remi's articles are usually quite technical, and this one is no exception. For experts.

"STURP II" Testing Proposals 1984-88

William Meacham, Hong Kong based archaeologist and highly respected Shroud scholar, has archived a wealth of important historical information about the STURP team in the 1980's on this web page. He includes links to 1) a Summary of the STURP 1984 testing proposals, 2) the Complete STURP 1984 testing proposals (this is a very large file of 181 pages and 46 MB), 3) the STURP 1987 testing proposals (in 4 parts), 4) correspondence between Steve Lukasic (of STURP) and Meacham and 5) the STURP 1988 testing proposals. Our thanks to Bill for making this valuable information available.

STURP Members' Quotations from Early Popular Secular and Religious Literature by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - September 23, 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"The Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) was a group of mainly U.S. that did an intensive study on the Shroud… In 1978 scientists performed direct testing of the Shroud for five straight days and one-hundred twenty consecutive hours. They published numerous peer-reviewed journal papers in the early 1980s. It was the only in-depth scientific examination ever conducted on the Shroud. They concluded that the images were not the product of an artist…"

O Sudário de Turim: Entre a história da arte e a Datação do Carbono 14 (The Shroud of Turin: Between Art History and Carbon 14 Dating) by by Antônio Jackson de Souza Brandão

This link is to the complete paper (in pdf format) of a Portuguese language article published in the online Brazilian journal Lumen et Virtus, nº 10, vol. v, March 2014. Here is a synopsis: When published in 1989, the test results of carbon 14 of the Turin Shroud, led many scientists, agnostics and theists of various religious associations to celebrate their results on the "unmasking" of the strange relic. They forgot, however, that the history of art, documented for centuries, demonstrates exactly the opposite, its imagery making inconceivable [dates] between 1260 to 1390, a period appointed as its probable creation.

Sudarium of Oviedo, The by Mark Guscin - Lithuanian Language Translation by Translate Team - Dutch language translation by Johanne Teerink - Ukrainian language translation by Sergei Cosbuk, check TheWordPoint

This paper discusses in detail the Sudarium, a bloodstained cloth from Oviedo, Spain that some believe is the "face cloth" that wrapped the head of Jesus in the tomb. It was first presented at the Nice Symposium in May 1997 and can also be accessed via the "Shroud Conferences & Symposia" page of this site. Mark is a member of CIELT, the French organization that sponsored the symposium, as well as a member of the Centro España de Sindonología, the organization directly responsible for research on the sudarium. This fascinating paper describes the sudarium in detail and explains its relationship to the Shroud of Turin. It includes five color photographs.

Sudarium of Oviedo, The: A Study of Fiber Structures by Raymond N. Rogers  (.pdf format) [219k] [Written 2004, Published 2008] (Includes 7 color photomicrographs)

This paper was originally written in 2004, when Ray Rogers examined linen fiber samples from the Sudarium of Oviedo at the request of the Oviedo authorities. He submitted this paper to them for their approval, which they gave, and Ray planned to ultimately have it published on this website. Sadly, he set it aside for other Shroud research and it almost was lost after his death, but thanks to Joanna Emery, noted Shroud author who discovered its existence during her correspondence with the Oviedo authorities, it was "found" again and read (by Joanna) at the August 2008 Ohio Shroud Conference. I am pleased to finally be able to include it here.

Summarizing a Set of Radiocarbon Determinations: A Robust Approach by Dr J.A. Christen

This paper was published in Applied Statistics, Vol. 43, No. 3. (1994), pp. 489-503, in 1994 and corroborates the findings of the 1988 radiocarbon dating of the Shroud. The above link takes you to a page where one can only read the Abstract and Introduction. The Shroud-related section of the article (Example 2 page 498), is only available by purchasing the entire article.

In my May 2008 correspondence with Dr. Christen, he made the following statement regarding the article:

You could include my paper in your list as an early analysis before the origin of the samples themselves were questioned.

Yes, my analysis corroborates the results of the 1988 dating, but this is only conditional of the fact that the dated material was indeed part of the Shroud. This latter fact is now disputed, as I understand. I don't think there is any substantial error in the c14 dating and its subsequent analysis, but apparently the samples did not belong to the Shroud itself. The C14 labs had no chance whatsoever.

Summary of Challenges to the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin by Richard B. Sorensen  (.pdf format) [117k] [July 2007]

In this paper Richard addresses every major challenge to the Shroud's authenticity and provides nearly 70 linked references to support the evidence he presents.

Supplement to (Book) "The 1988 C-14 Dating of the Shroud of Turin: A Stunning Exposé" - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - August 11, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is the introduction:

"This document is designed as a companion to the book, "The 1988 C-14 Dating of the Shroud of Turin: A Stunning Exposé." It can basically be read as a condensed/stand-alone version of the book. It previously was on my web site but I have reproduced it for academia.edu for wider dissemination and better ease of editing. Book Obtainable at: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1734813032/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1"

Systematic Approach for Understanding the Image Formation on the Shroud of Turin, A by Dr. Jose Luis Fernandez  (.pdf format) [45k] [September 2005]

This paper was originally presented at the Third International Dallas Shroud Conference in September 2005.

Tantalizing Photograph Of Some Oxford Samples, A by Remi Van Haelst (.pdf format) [283k] [November 2007]

Remi states: In my archives I found a paper which I forgot to publish. Is it possible to include it on your website? The "off the record" dates provided by Bottema are very important. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks to the kind input of highly observant website viewer Gian Marco Rinaldi, I discovered that this article originally appeared in 2001 on the Collegamento pro Sindone website, www.shroud.it. Thank you Gian for your valuable input).

The Shroud of Turin in Light of the Biblical Tradition of Venerating Holy Objects by Joseph G. Marino May 10, 2024. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:

“I don’t have any hard data, but I believe that many evangelical Christians who are quick to dismiss the Shroud would be thrilled if researchers were able to confirm the existence of Noah’s Ark and the Ark of the Covenant. Of course, one big difference between those two objects and the Shroud is that the former are from the Old Testament, whereas the Shroud has a connotation of having a Catholic, rather than a New Testament connection. The New Testament does mention a shroud in connection with Jesus’ burial. Still, a big caveat is that no image, which found on the Shroud of Turin, is mentioned, which leads many to believe that the Shroud can’t be authentic because the Gospel writers would have mentioned it if it had been there. However, there are good reasons why the image might not have been mentioned. In this article, I will chronicle various objects in the Old and Testaments that considered “holy objects,” a phrase I prefer to use instead of “relics,” which often has negative connotations. I will attempt to show that there is no theological barrier to accepting the Shroud as the authentic burial cloth of Jesus.”

The Templars and the Shroud by John White - Atlantis Rising Magazine, Jan/Feb 2018. [21 June 2018] Here is an excerpt from the article:

"...Prior to its placement in the cathedral, the Knights Templars had possession of the shroud and kept it folded in a wooden container with a viewing window, so that the face of the Man in the Shroud was visible as an object of wor­ship for them. (They were, after all, the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon.) The viewing window was framed with wooden latticework. This is based on the research of Frank Tribbe, whose book The Holy Grail Mys­tery Solved (Galde Press, 2003) builds on the work of Noel Currer-Briggs’ The Holy Grail and the Shroud of Christ..."

Ten Years of Important Events in the History of the Holy Shroud by Prof. Bruno Barberis and Prof. Piero Savarino (.pdf format) [26k] [September 2005]

This paper was originally presented at the Third International Dallas Shroud Conference in September 2005. (Editor's Note: This link is to a text-only reprint of the article from the BSTS Newsletter No. 62 and does not include illustrations)

The Testing of a Relic by Robert W. "Bill" Mottern - American Society of Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) - 1979 Fall Conference Proceedings - pp. 279-282 - [30 Sept 2021] - Here is a brief excerpt from the introduction:

"...One question which is of interest to a group of American scientist is - how was an image formed on a linen cloth centuries ago? A private research group has been formed to study this and other questions. A group of nondestructive tests was performed in Turin, Italy during the period of October 9-13, 1978. The primary objective was to collect data which would characterize the image...."

Testing the Jackson Theory of Image Formation by Raymond N. Rogers  (.pdf format) [127k] [July 2004] (Includes 8 color and b&w illustrations)

In this article Ray reviews the controversial image formation mechanism proposed in recent years by Dr. John Jackson, co-founder of the STURP team. It presents Ray's frank, empirical and detailed point of view of Dr. Jackson's theory.

Comments on Rogers' "Testing the Jackson 'Theory' of Image Formation" by John Jackson and Keith Propp  (.pdf format) [21k] [July 2004]

In this article, John and Keith respond specifically to a number of the points made by Ray in his article. As occurs so often in the world of the Shroud, there is disagreement, even amongst the experts. Once again, you will have to evaluate the materials yourself and make up your own mind.

Textile Evidence Supports Skewed Radiocarbon Date of Shroud of Turin by M. Sue Benford and Joseph G. Marino  (.pdf format) [73k] [August 2002] (Includes 2 color photos)

Provides additional evidence for their conclusions about the reweaving, but goes a step further. The researchers submitted their original paper to a number of internationally recognized experts for review. This paper includes the criticisms they received, along with their specific responses.

Textiles and Radiocarbon Dating by Carlo Cristi – Radiocarbon, Vol 56, Nr 2, 2014, p 637–643. [22 November 2021] Here is the abstract:

“Natural textiles provide suitable material for radiocarbon dating. Short-lived organic matter is usually involved and, if 14C dating is applied to pieces that are stylistically well dated, a better understanding of 14C dating of this type of material can be gained. This study presents some examples of dating that support the stylistic dates. Repeated analyses illustrate the robustness of the standard treatment applied to the textiles.”

There is no mass spectrometry evidence that the C14 sample from the Shroud of Turin comes from a “medieval invisible mending” by Marco Bella, Luigi Garlaschelli, Roberto Samperia - Science Direct, Thermochimica Acta Volume 617, 10 October 2015, Pages 169–171 - Abstract only. [1 November 2015] Here is the abstract:

This is an editorial regarding a paper published on Thermochimica Acta (R.N. Rogers, Thermochimca Acta, 425 (2005) 189–194). A close-up analysis of the pyrolysis-mass spectra reported in the original paper reveals that the differences found between the samples coming from different parts of the Shroud are just due to the presence of a contaminant with a long aliphatic chain. Except for the presence of the contaminant, the two pyrolysis-mass spectra look alike rather than different. Therefore, the pseudoscientific theory stating that the C14 sample might come from a “medieval invisible mending” remains unsupported by evidences.

Rebuttal to the above article available online 20 January 2016 in Thermochimica Acta:

Comments on the mass spectrometry analysis of a sample of the Shroud of Turin by Bella et al. by Mario Latendresse - Science Direct, Thermochimica Acta Volume 624, 20 January 2016, Pages 55-58. Mario has written an interesting rebuttal to the editorial, but check and download it quickly. It will go behind a pay wall after February 12, 2016. Here is a key excerpt from the abstract:

"...The main conclusion of Bella et al. was 'No diagnostic peak in the pyrolysis mass spectra indicates a significant difference in the two samples, besides hydrocarbon-derived contamination. Therefore, none of the presented data supports the conclusion by Rogers.' We show that the technical analysis of Bella et al. of the mass spectra is incorrect and that their main conclusion is unconfirmed, in particular that a 'contaminant' would be present on the second sample analyzed."

Thomas of Wesselow and the Shroud of Turin: How to Turn Half-truths into a New Theology? - by Prof. Dr. Jack Brandão - Lumen et Virtus, Vol. XIII, No. 34, July-December 2022 - Posted online February 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "This article seeks to deconstruct the aura of methodological exemption employed by the English art historian Thomas de Wesselow in their work The Sign: the Holy Shroud and the Secret of the Resurrection, released in Brazil in 2012. Furthermore, it will seek to demonstrate how the historian uses his object of research just as a springboard for creating his doctrine…"

Three Dimensional Characteristic of the Shroud Image by J.P. Jackson, E.J. Jumper and W.R. Ercoline - IEEE 1982 Proceedings of the International Conference on Cybernetics and Society, October 1982, pp. 559-575.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Three Papers from the Oxford Laboratory Website - Thanks to Joe Marino we learned that the Oxford website has some information on supplementary material for the 1989 Nature report as well as two general C-14 articles by Prof. Ramsey (a.k.a. C.R. Bronk, which is how he is listed in the Nature article). [Editors Note: When you click on the individual links to the papers on the Oxford website (or below), you will not be taken to a web page, Instead, the pdf version of the selected file will be automatically downloaded to the Downloads folder on your hard drive. Note that every time you click on the link another copy will be downloaded, so only click once and check your Downloads folder. As of this writing you cannot read the papers online].

3-D Processing to Evidence Characteristics Represented in Manoppello Veil by Jan S. Jaworski and Giulio Fanti  (.pdf format) [273k] [January 2008]

This paper documents the researchers' use of 3-D processing techniques comparing the face of the Shroud of Turin with that of the Manoppello Veil.

3D Properties of the Shroud (Revised) by O.K. - Shroud of Turin Blog - October 1, 2015 [1 November 2015]

Regular blog contributor O.K. has produced an excellent four part, fully illustrated presentation that goes into great detail explaining and analyzing the so-called 3D properties of the Shroud image. This presentation is definitely worth your time. Here are direct links to each part: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4.

Transcript of Diane Soran's Remarks at Meeting of Shroud of Turin Research Project Members - Española, New Mexico - April 28, 1979 by Diane Soran (Previously unpublished). [November 22, 2021]

This is a professionally produced transcript of an audio recording made at one of the New Mexico regional group meetings held on April 28, 1979. (It was probably transcribed by someone at the Los Alamos lab). The Española location makes me believe the meeting was probably held at Ron London's small ranch and it took place about a month after STURP held their 'First Data Analysis Workshop' on the Shroud, in Santa Barbara, California (March 24-25, 1979), when the entire team was present. So although it is somewhat technical, it provides us with a closer look at one of the least known but truly important STURP scientific team members (and provides further insights into the team itself). Other researchers at the meeting included Ray Rogers, Ron London, Eric Jumper, John Jackson, Bob Dinegar, Joe Accetta and Don Janney. The document represents some technical remarks by Diane Soran, STURP team member from Los Alamos National Laboratory with expertise in chemistry and archaelogy. Sadly, Diane was one of the first team members to pass away and never really had the opportunity to publish any of her own Shroud research. I know she worked closely with Ray Rogers and others at the lab on Shroud related chemistry matters, but little material evidence of her work exists. This recently discovered document gives us some insights into her dedication and professionalism and how seriously she took this research. I believe this is a truly important historical document and am very pleased to share it with you.

Traumato-orthopedic injuries of Jesus Christ according to the Shroud of Turin by Luz, C.F., De Losso, S.E., Galbiatti, J.A., Muriano, S.M.V., Palacio, G.M.G., Cardozo, S.E., Revista Cubana de Ortopedia y Traumatología, 2018, Issue 02 - Mediagraphic Literatura Biomedica [6 November 2019]

[Editor's Note: Abstract in English, paper in Spanish] - Here is a brief excerpt from the abstract: "Objective: To describe the traumatic-orthopedic injuries suffered by the man in Shroud of Turin in his condemnation and crucifixion."

Turin is Home of the Shroud and a Center of Black Magic: Is There a Connection? by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - July 26, 2022 [31 August 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "Many people are aware that Italy's Turin (or "Torino") is the home of the famed "Shroud of Turin," believed by many to be the actual burial cloth of the historical Jesus of Nazareth. The Shroud has been in Turin since 1578. However, not many people are aware that the city also has a reputation as a haven for Satanists and a center of Black Magic. Could there be a connection between the Shroud's presence in the city and the presence of Satanists/Black Magic?.."

The Turin Shroud Body Image: The Scorch Hypothesis Revisited by Thibault Heimburger [21 January 2013]

In recent months, the rather dated Scorch Hypothesis of image formation has found some new and rather vocal supporters on the Shroud blogs. This excellent article by noted Shroud researcher Thibault Heimburger reviews the known data, details his latest experiments and presents his newest evidence (including many color photographs) that challenges this hypothesis in great detail. It was originally posted on Dan Porter's blog in October 2012. Here is an excerpt from Thibault's conclusions: "The TS image is not a scorch, even a light scorch. In fact, this old hypothesis is very easy to rule out definitively as the body image formation mechanism with some basic experiments and a microscope." Make sure to read Thibault's follow up article published in April 2014 titled, The Scorch Hypothesis: New Experiments.

Turin Shroud: Compatibility Between a Digitized Body Image and a Computerized Anthropomorphous Manikin by G. Fanti, R. Basso & G. Bianchini

Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, [Sep/Oct 2010] Volume 54, Issue 5, pp 050503-1-(8) (No longer available)

The Turin Shroud face: the evidence of maxillo-facial trauma - Folia Morphologica, Vol 74, No 2, May 28, 2015 [21 January 2019]

Here is the abstract: "The Turin Shroud (TS) is a linen cloth commonly associated with Jesus Christ, his crucifixion and burial. Several medical specialists have debated the injuries of the TS Man, nevertheless there are no detailed and quantitative data about the anatomy of the TS face. The purpose of this study was to analyse the cephalometric measurements of the face image of the TS. The TS face image was acquired by a picture and processed using a cephalometric software, Oris Ceph® (Up to date 2012). The image of the soft tissues was processed in order to obtain skeletal points and a cephalometric analysis of the soft and skeletal tissues was performed. Image processing of the TS face shows that the Man represented in it has undergone a maxillo-facial trauma, especially a left displacement of the mandible, probably due to temporo-mandibular joint lesions. This condition has not been described before, despite several studies on the subject." [Editor's Note: This somewhat older paper was recently brought to my attention by Sasha Struhar].

Turin Shroud, The: from the photo to the three-dimensional by Aldo Guerreschi  (.pdf format) [277k] (illustrated with 9 photographs)

In this paper from the May 2000 Shroud Imaging Conference in San Felice Circeo, Italy, Aldo has perfected an established photographic enhancement technique to clearly visualize the dimensional characteristics encoded in the Shroud image. See the next paper for a detailed description of his technique

Turin Shroud and Photo-Relief Technique, The by Aldo Guerreschi  (.pdf format) [261k] (illustrated with 8 photographs)

In this paper Aldo explains the technique in detail. This and the previous paper overlap in some areas, but the combined information is so critical to the understanding of this important Shroud image property that I am including both on the site. Two must-read papers for anyone seriously interested in understanding the science of the image.

Turin Shroud hands’ region analysis reveals the scrotum and a part of the right thumb by Liberato De Caro and Cinzia Giannini, Journal of Cultural Heritage, Available online 9 November 2016. Here is the Abstract:

"The Turin Shroud is traditionally considered the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, but carbon-14 analysis indicated a medieval date. Here, a digital restoring of the hands’ region of the Turin Shroud image has allowed to visualize anatomic details never seen before: the scrotum and part of the right hand's thumb. Additionally, the unnatural position of the right hand's thumb, adjacent to the palm of the hand, positioned below it and, consequently, almost fully hidden except for its protruding end, seems to denote a stress, which could be consequent to crucifixion. These results shed new light on the long-lasting scientific debate about the authenticity of the relic since the absence of the thumbs has been considered as one of the most important indirect proof that the Turin Shroud wrapped the body of a man who was crucified alive."

The Turin Shroud in Light of First-Century CE Jewish Burial Practices According to Jewish Sources - a Bibliography (Revision 1) by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - January 9, 2021. [21 January 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"In late 2020 [December 28, 2020], I published a short, limited-scope article on academia.edu titled, Is the Turin Shroud Compatible with a First Century Jerusalem Burial?--Some Jewish Perspectives, which included a discussion group. I was hoping that the comments by others might help me to decide how to proceed from that article. I received some remarks that helped me to decide that the most useful route to take would be to produce three separate follow-up articles. Later, I will produce similarly titled articles… most likely to be segregated by groups of years 1900-1959 and 1960-2020…"

Turin Shroud, Resurrection and Science: One View of the Cathedral by Tristan Casabianca - New Blackfriars, 2016 – Academia.edu

Here is the abstract: “In a topic as controversial as the Turin Shroud, it is always surprising to note that there remains a large area of consensus among scholars who hold opposite opinions on the origin of this piece of fabric. According to the consensus view, neither science nor history can prove that the Turin Shroud shows signs of the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. However, the reasons provided for this important claim are not convincing, especially in light of recent developments in historiography and analytic philosophy.”

Turin 2010 - A Personal Report by Barrie Schwortz  (.pdf format) [550k] [July 6, 2010] (illustrated with 8 photographs)

Personal Report on the 2010 Exposition of the Shroud.

Turin 2015 - A Personal Report by Barrie Schwortz [16 August 2015] (illustrated with 6 photographs)

Personal Report on the 2015 Exposition of the Shroud.

2014 Workshop on Advances in the Turin Shroud Investigation (ATSI 2014) - SHS Web of Conferences, Volume 15 (2015)

This is a website that includes links to a selection of papers that were originally presented at the ATSI 2014 Conference held at the University of Bari in Bari, Italy, September 4–5, 2014. The event was sponsored by the Technical University of Bari, Italy and the University of Bari "Aldo Moro," Italy with the technical co-sponsorship of the CIS (International Center for Turin Shroud Studies), Turin. The event was organized by the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering of the Technical University of Bari, Italy. Currently, 11 papers are available.

2D reproduction of the face on the Turin Shroud by infrared femtosecond pulse laser processing by C. Donnet, J. Granier, G. Vergé, Y. Bleu, S. Reynaud, and F. Vocanson, Applied Optics, Vol. 58, Issue 9, pp. 2158-2165 (2019).

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "Femtosecond pulse laser processing concentrates a huge quantity of light energy in extremely short pulses of a few tens to hundreds of femtoseconds, enabling superficial laser machining or marking of any kind of materials, with a reduced or insignificant heat affected area. A digitized paper printed image of the face on the Turin Shroud was used to monitor a scan head intercalated between a femtosecond pulsed laser source and a linen fabric sample, enabling the direct 2D reproduction of the image of the face with a laser beam size corresponding to one pixel of the digitized image..."

Two unpublished letters of Secondo Pia about the 1898 Shroud photography by Roberto Falcinelli [May 2010] (From the Proceedings of the 2010 Frascati Conference)

This paper provides interesting insights into the Shroud's first photographer.

Ultraviolet 365 as an Alternative Light Source for Detection of Blood Serum by Kelly Kearse - Journal of Forensic Sciences, 28 April 2020 (Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue) [1 June 2020]

Here is an excerpt from the Abstract: "...In this report, the detection of human blood serum was evaluated using ultraviolet (UV) light at two different wavelengths. These results show that ultraviolet (UV) at 365 nm (UV365) was effective in the detection of even small amounts of blood plasma and serum, compared with UV at 395 nm, which was not. UV365 was also found to be useful in distinguishing blood imprints from clotting blood which had been transferred to material versus blood that had been added directly. Taken together, these results demonstrate that UV365 may be utilized as a simple, nondestructive method for blood serum detection." [Editor's Note: Although the Shroud of Turin is never directly mentioned in this article, the methods and conclusions discussed are completely relevant to Shroud research].

Ultraviolet Fluorescence Photography of the Shroud of Turin by V. D. Miller and S. F. Pellicori - Journal of Biological Photography, Vol. 49, No. 3, 1981, pp. 71-85.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Ultraviolet fluorescent detection of elevated bilirubin in dried blood serum by Kelly P. Kearse - Journal of Forensic Science and Research - September 23, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the summary: "Increased levels of bilirubin in blood serum may result from numerous physical conditions including hepatitis, cirrhosis, enzyme deficiency, drug reactions, autoimmune disorders and physiological trauma. No presumptive test for high bilirubin levels in blood serum stains currently exists, which could prove useful in the assessment of crime scenes involving victims with one of the above disorders. Here, the use of ultraviolet 365 (UV 365) is described as a simple, nondestructive method for the detection of blood serum containing elevated levels of bilirubin."

Ultraviolet-Visible Reflectance and Fluorescence Spectra of the Shroud of Turin by R. Gilbert, Jr. and M.M. Gilbert - Applied Optics, 1980, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp. 1930-1936.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Unanticipated issues in serological analysis of blood species - The Shroud of Turin as a case example by Kelly Kearse - Forensic Science International: Reports, Volume 2, December 2020 [1 June 2020]

Here is the abstract: “Serological analysis of blood on objects can be challenging, particularly those for which limited background information is available. The Shroud of Turin is an aged linen cloth that shows the images of a man bearing wounds corresponding to scourging and crucifixion. The bloodstains on the Shroud are often reported as being human in origin; however, a modern revaluation of the prior experimental design indicates that blood from other species would have also tested positive. The current perspective underscores the importance of consideration of a broad spectrum of potential cross-reactivity in bloodstain analysis, particularly with objects that are of indefinite origin.”

Uncovering the sources of DNA found on the Turin Shroud by Gianni Barcaccia, Giulio Galla, Alessandro Achilli, Anna Olivieri & Antonio Torroni - Scientific Reports 5, Article number: 14484, Nature October 5, 2015 [1 November 2015]. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

"...Here, we report the main findings from the analysis of genomic DNA extracted from dust particles vacuumed from parts of the body image and the lateral edge used for radiocarbon dating. Several plant taxa native to the Mediterranean area were identified as well as species with a primary center of origin in Asia, the Middle East or the Americas but introduced in a historical interval later than the Medieval period. Regarding human mitogenome lineages, our analyses detected sequences from multiple subjects of different ethnic origins, which clustered into a number of Western Eurasian haplogroups, including some known to be typical of Western Europe, the Near East, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian sub-continent. Such diversity does not exclude a Medieval origin in Europe but it would be also compatible with the historic path followed by the Turin Shroud during its presumed journey from the Near East. Furthermore, the results raise the possibility of an Indian manufacture of the linen cloth."

Urfa, Turkey: the urgent need for an archaeological survey of the town that (arguably) was the Shroud's home for nearly a thousand years. by Ian Wilson  (.pdf format) [41k]

From the 1999 Richmond Conference.

Use of Digital Image Processing in the Analysis of the Shroud of Turin by Donald J. Lynn - March 22, 1995 - Previously unpublished. Here is a brief excerpt from the introduction:

"What is digital image processing, and how has it been applied to the scientific investigation of the Shroud? The following is an attempt to answer these two questions in a relatively simple manner." [Editor's Note: Keep in mind that this article was written more than 22 years ago and digital image processing technologies have advanced exponentially since then].

UV Fluorescence Imagery of the Turin Shroud - Digitally Revisited by Samuel Pellicori - International Journal of Archaeology, Volume 8, Issue 2, December 22, 2020, Pages: 32-36. Here is an excerpt from the Abstract:

“UV fluorescence imagery of faint or fragile images and markings (writing) on relics and artwork is an affordable non-destructive tool useful in revealing often invisible details and in monitoring temporal stability. UV fluorescent images of Turin were recorded for the first time during the 1978 scientific investigation. The original images were recorded on color film and now have been digitally scanned and enhanced using image processing software. The processed UV images contain spectral discriminatory information and high spatial detail resolution with high contrast that is not discernable in white light images. Differing fluorescent emission colors were found to be associated with image features such as body image, burns, blood flows, skin wounds and water flows on the Turin Shroud…”

Validation and limitations in the DNA analysis of aged bloodstains: The Shroud of Turin as a sample case by Kelly Kearse - Forensic Science International: Reports, Volume 8, December 2023 - August 17, 2023 - Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"DNA analysis is useful for investigation of many different types of objects, which can be particularly challenging for older articles, especially those of indefinite provenance. The Shroud of Turin is an aged linen cloth with the faint image of a man containing bloodstains. It is widely reported that the blood is of male origin; however, a modern reexamination of the previous methods and deductions indicate that the results are at best, inconclusive. This example illustrates the limitations that may exist in the DNA analysis of bloodstains, particularly in relation to aged samples…"

Veil of Manoppello: Work of Art or Authentic Relic?, The by Roberto Falcinelli [September 2005] (From the 3rd International Dallas Conference) (Includes 30 photographs and illustrations)

In this interesting article, Roberto Falcinelli, a professional photographer and member of the Centro Diocesano di Sindonologia "Giulio Ricci" in Rome, investigates the Veil of Manoppello, believed by some to be a miraculous image and by others, simply a painting. Although not specifically about the Shroud, it has certain parallels that make it worthy of interest.

Veil of Veronica, The: Fact or Fiction? by John Iannone [December 2009]

In this interesting article, John Iannone, noted Shroud scholar and author, explores the legend of the Veil from an historical and traditional basis. He then examines the opposing claims that the actual veil is in Rome or in Manoppello and reaches some interesting conclusions.

Verification of the Nature and Causes of the Photo-negative Images on the Shroud of Lirey-Chambery-Turin by Nicholas P.L. Allen

NOTE: This link is to a text only version of this paper. The original link is no longer available. Dr. Allen concludes that the Shroud is an actual photograph produced using 13th century technology and is the author of several books on the subject. He appears frequently in television programs where he demonstrates his theories and results.

Views on the Shroud of Turin's C-14 Dating through the Perspectives of Fr. Peter Rinaldi and Fr. Adam Otterbein of the Holy Shroud Guild by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - July 13, 2022 [31 August 2022]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "The Holy Shroud Guild in Bronx, N.Y., founded in 1951, was the first American ecclesiastical organization to have a connection with the "Turin Centro" (now known as the International Center of Sindonology"). Two priests, the late Fr. Peter Rinaldi (d. 1993) and the late Fr. Adam Otterbein (d. 1998), are synonymous with the Guild. It was they who paved the way for the mainly-American Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), to be able to do a five-day, one-hundred-twenty hour multi-disciplinary battery of tests in Turin in 1978…"

Visualization of Plasma and Serum Pattern Formation in Drying Drops of Blood by Kelly P. Kearse - ARC Journal of Forensic Science, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2022, PP 1-5 - November 11, 2022 [5 DEC 2022]

Here is the abstract: "Whole blood is a colloidal suspension consisting of ~55% liquid plasma and ~ 45% cellular components. A thorough understanding of drying blood drop pattern formation is important in forensic applications involving the blood of a murder victim or suspect. Previous studies on drying blood drops have focused on the movement of the blood cellular portion, or on plasma that has been physically separated from whole blood; however, no analyses have been performed to evaluate the movement of plasma within whole blood during this process. The current study utilizes ultraviolet light 365 (UV 365) to monitor the migration of plasma in drying blood on both glass and skin. These data show that a distinct sequence of events occurs in the movement of plasma within drying whole blood and provide the first specific visualization of this process."

VUV Radiation and Protons cannot produce the Shroud Body Image by Giovanni Fazio - World Scientific News, WSN 178 (2023) 1-11 - March 1, 2023 [6 JULY 2023]

Here is an excerpt from the abstract: "In this paper we investigate the radiative hypothesis, already proposed by other scientists, as being the mechanism that may have produced the Shroud Body Image. We are critics of the above process, because it is incomprehensible to both Physics and Theology. Moreover, due to the presence of air in addition to linen, it is impossible to penetrate to the same depth all the points of the region where the Body Image should lie."

Walter C. McCrone and the Max Frei Sticky Tapes of 1978: A Background Study by Paul C. Maloney

This article encapsulates and updates the much more extensive paper Paul originally presented at the 1999 Richmond Shroud Conference titled, History of Botanical Research on the Shroud of Turin. [Editor's Note: That paper is currently not available online but was published in the Proceedings of the 1999 Shroud of Turin International Research Conference - Richmond, Virginia - WALSH, Bryan J. (Ed.) - Magisterium Press, Glen Allen, Virginia (USA) 2000].

Was the Coin-on-Eye Custom a Jewish Burial Practice in the Second Temple Period? by Rachel Hachlili and Ann E. Killebrew - Biblical Archaeologist - 1983 - [30 June 2021] - Here is an excerpt from the article:

"We were prompted to write this article in reply to the recent controversy that has arisen from the discovery of four coins inside two Jewish tombs of the Second Temple period at Jericho and their relation to Jewish burial customs of the period. The Jericho coins have been cited as evidence that the placement of coins over the deceased's eyes was a prevalent Jewish burial custom of the first century A.D. (see, for instance, Bortin 1980: 112). This unfounded belief has been used by some to support their claims that the images of objects appearing over the eyes on the Shroud of Turin are coins..."

Was the “Painted” Cloth Mentioned in the d’Arcis Memorandum of c. 1389 the So-Called Shroud of Besançon? by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – March 14, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is the online description:

“This article examines the hypothesis held by some historians and researchers that the Shroud of Turin was given to a French Count, Othon de la Roche and that it was kept in Besançon between the years of 1207 and 1349, part of the "missing years" of the Shroud. Sources that deny this hypothesis are provided.”

Was The Shroud In Languedoc During The Missing Years? by Jack Markwardt

This paper presents an interesting historical hypothesis. It was first presented at the May 1997 Nice Symposium in Nice, France and can also be reached via the "Shroud Conferences & Symposia" page of this website. It focuses upon the "Missing Years" in the history of the Shroud of Turin, presents a hypothetical reconstruction of several of the more mysterious chapters in the cloth's biography, and suggests that the sindonic path between Constantinople and Lirey runs directly through Languedoc.

What are the Implications for the Shroud of Turin of the ENEA High-Intensity Ultraviolet Laser Experiments? - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - July 7, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"…Almost everyone in the world is aware that the Shroud of Turin, the reputed burial cloth of the historical character known as Jesus of Nazareth, was radiocarbon dated in 1988 to AD 1260 - 1390, ostensibly precluding the possibility that it was contemporary with Jesus' burial. Not as many people are aware that numerous scientists and researchers have challenged those 1988 results, predominantly for two reasons. The first reason was due to the findings of the 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), composed mainly of American scientists who worked in the U.S.' nuclear and space program; the group, having produced two dozen papers in the scientific peer-reviewed literature, concluded that the image was NOT the product of an artist. The second reason is the questionable actions and numerous irregularities by both the Catholic Church and the three C-14 labs involved in the testing…"

What is the Catholic Church's Official Position on the Shroud of Turin? Pronouncements from the Vatican and Turin by Joseph G. Marino - Academia.edu - March 1, 2021. [30 June 2021]

Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "One fact that both proponents and skeptics of the Shroud's authenticity can agree on is that it there is a reasonably-clear historical documentation of the cloth from the 1350s onward, when it first exhibited publicly in the French town of Lirey about 1357 by the Shroud's first known owner, Geoffrey (I) de Charny. The Catholic Church has always been involved with the Shroud, but didn't become the legal owner until 1985, after the last King of Italy, Umberto II, willed in 1983 the cloth to the living Pope. People today often ask what is the Church's official stance regarding the Shroud. It's not a simple answer."

What is the Physiognomy of the Man in the Shroud by Joseph G. Marino – Academia.edu – February 23, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is the introduction to the article:

“If the Shroud of Turin is an authentic remnant of the life of Jesus, as many believe, the image should show characteristics of a first-century Jewish male. I want to share an anecdote (which of course has no scientific value) related to this issue that happened several decades ago, but which still elicits a very powerful memory. In 1991 or 1992, I had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land. I was part of a small group that hired a tour guide to take us around Jerusalem. The tour guide was a male, probably in his 50s. I was sitting in the back seat of the car, and in his rear-view mirror, I could see mostly just his eyes. What immediately struck me, and which is still a vivid memory today, was that his eyes looked almost exactly like the eyes of the man in the Shroud. Now, that was just an observation on my part, but over the years, I have found that some researchers have made a more scholarly case that the man in the Shroud was, in fact, Jewish. I will list a quote, its source (in order of publication date), and comments.”

What type of blood is present on the Shroud of Turin? Existing Data vs. To Be Determined by Kelly Kearse

In this paper, "...the current knowledge of the types of blood that might exist on the Shroud of Turin is discussed, emphasizing results for which empirical data actually exists, the strength of such data, and estimations that remain to be determined."

What Went Wrong With the Shroud's Radiocarbon Date? Setting It All In Context by Paul C. Maloney

This is an updated version of the paper Paul presented at the 2008 Ohio Conference.

Why critics of Rogers' 2005 work refuting the 1988 C-14 dating of the Shroud are wrong - O.K. - Academia.edu - September 25, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"The 2005 publication of Raymond Rogers work refuting 1988 C-14 dating of the Shroud of Turin met with negative response from many people, for various reasons. Some people were angered that the alleged "conclusive evidence that the linen of the Shroud of Turin is mediaeval" was shattered. Others had different ideas on why the dating was anomalous or could not accept the fact that the corner form which the sample for dating was taken, was actually rewoven, contrary to what appears from direct observations…"

[Editor's Note: The above paper was written by the highly respected Polish Sindonologist who prefers to go only by the initials O.K. Consequently, he requested that Joe Marino post his latest papers online via Academia.edu, which Joe was happy to accommodate. We previously linked to a four-part series on the 3-D Properties of the Shroud by O.K., which was originally published in 2015 on the (now defunct but still available) Shroud of Turin Blog page by Dan Porter. To see the depth and extent of O.K.'s research, you can also visit his Polish Language Website.]

Why is the Turin Shroud Not Fake? by Giulio Fanti - Global Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology - December 4, 2018. [21 January 2019]

Here is the introduction: "The Turin Shroud, the Holy Shroud or simply the Shroud is the archaeological object, as well as religious, more studied in the world. From a scientific point of view, it is important because it shows a double image of a man up to now not reproducible nor explainable; it is also religiously important because, according to the Christian tradition, it shows some traces of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. A recent paper showed why and in which sense the Shroud is authentic, but many persons still keep on stating the contrary, probably pushed by their religion beliefs that arouses many logical-deductive problems. Consequently, some researchers influence the scientific aspects of the most important Relic of Christianity based on their personal religious aspects thus publishing goal-oriented documents."

Will there ever be Further Testing on the Shroud of Turin? - Joe Marino - Academia.edu - August 26, 2021. [30 Sept 2021] Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"The first major scientific testing of the Shroud took place in the period 1969-1973. According to an article in 1983 by archaeologist William Meacham, Direct examination of the Shroud by scientific means began in 1969-73 with the appointment of an 11-member Turin Commission (1976) to advise on the preservation of the relic and on specific testing which might be undertaken. Five of its members were scientists, and preliminary studies of samples of the cloth were conducted by them in 1973. A much more detailed examination of the Shroud was carried out by a group of American scientists in 1978-81 as the Shroud of Turin Research Project…"

Workshop Of Paduan Scientific Analysis on the Shroud (WOPSAS 2015) - Edited by Giulio Fanti - Padua University, Italy, June 9, 2015

This is a link to the MATEC Web of Conferences website for the WOPSAS 2015 Shroud conference and includes open access to ten papers presented by various authors at the workshop on topics including Shroud dating, DNA analysis, medical news, body image and more.

Workshop Proceedings of the 1977 United States Conference on the Shroud of Turin compiled by Eric J. Jumper and John P. Jackson - Published by the Holy Shroud Guild - March 24, 1977 [31 August 2022]

This historically important document provides a close look at some of the extensive planning that ultimately led to the creation of the STURP team. Here is an excerpt from the introduction: "The function of the second day workshop of the 1977 United States Conference of Research on the Shroud of Turin was to: (1) Comment on the 1969-1976 Scientific Commission Report; (2) Identify areas where the Shroud and its image are not well understood (i.e. in terms of the Shroud's authenticity and image formation process); (3) suggest ways in which basic understanding of these areas can be improved; and (4) formulate a proposal which can be made to authorities in Turin for performing research on the Shroud..."

X-ray Dating of a Turin Shroud’s Linen Sample by Liberato De Caro, Teresa Sibillano, Rocco Lassandro, Cinzia Giannini and Giulio Fanti – Heritage Volume 5 Number 2, pp. 860-870 – April 11, 2022 [8 May 2022] – Here is an excerpt from the abstract:

“On a sample of the Turin Shroud (TS), we applied a new method for dating ancient linen threads by inspecting their structural degradation by means of Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS). The X-ray dating method was applied to a sample of the TS consisting of a thread taken in proximity of the 1988/radiocarbon area (corner of the TS corresponding to the feet area of the frontal image, near the so-called Raes sample)…” [Editor's Note: Although this technique may prove reliable at some point in the future, it must be noted that it has never before been used to date any archaeological samples. Much more testing must be completed before this technique can be accepted by the scientific community as a viable dating method.]

X-Ray Fluorescence Investigation of the Shroud of Turin by R.A. Morris, L.A. Schwalbe and J.R. London - X-Ray Spectrometry, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1980, pp. 40-47.

This is one of the twenty original STURP papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

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