The
Shroud is a herringbone twill with a 3:1 weave,
of probably 1st century Syrian or Egiptian design.
The cloth is similar to other found in the excavations
of tombs at the Jewish palace-fortress of Masada
dating between 40 b.C. and 73 a.C. The flax fibrils
contain en twisted cotton fibrils from a previous
work of the loom. The cotton is Gossypium herbaceum,
a Middle Eastern species not found in Europe.
Although
on the cloth some traces of pigments have been
found, the image is not a painting. There is general
agreement between the scientists about this. The
presence of those pigments is considered to be
a contamination unrelated to the process of image
formation.
On
the cloth there are stains of real blood. There
is not image under the blood. The blood is form
group AB, a common blood group found among Semitic
population and rare in Europe. The same blood
group has been found on another claimed important
relic from Jesus: The
Sudarium of Oviedo. High levels of
bilirubin can be found in the blood, as expected
in a tortured body.
Travertine
aragonite dust, with the characteristics of that
only present in Jerusalem vicinity, is found on
the feet, knees, and nose.
Passover-time
flower pollens from the Dead Sea area have been
found at unexpected high levels on the cloth,
along with pollens from France and Turkey. Some
scientists have found imprints of plants that
only growth in the region of Jerusalem.
A
linen cloth is mentioned in all four gospels.
C14
testing in 1988 dated the linen of the cloth as
medieval (1260-1390) and for many, that was the
end of it: The Shroud was considered a clever
forgery! But there are serious doubts among the
scientist about the purity and nature of the sample
taken for the analysis (more about it later).
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