We previously discussed the Shroud of Turin in Innerface Vol. 7, No. 4, concluding that, despite the carbon-dating debacle that labeled it as a medieval fake, it still appeared possible that this famous Christian relic really was the wrapping sheet used by Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus during transport of the body of Jesus from the crucifixion site at Golgotha to Joseph's recently completed tomb close by.

   There appears to be little doubt that the figures obtained by the three laboratories selected to do the carbon dating provided accurate information on the ratio of carbon-14 and carbon-12 in the samples (giving 1260-1390 A.D.). However, independent evidence revealed the presence of a hard, varnish-like coating of microbial origin on those samples that could not be removed by the cleaning techniques at the laboratories that did the carbon dating.

   Similar coatings have been seen previously on Mayan jade artifacts used in blood letting rituals that, by carbon-dating methodology, made these relics 700 years younger than they were known to be from other evidence.

   Further evidence on this topic has now been revealed in a new publication that also provides a highly detailed coverage of the shroud's history.¹

   At the University of Texas, Professor Mattingly cultured skin bacteria and kept adding them to a 1 gram piece of cloth until the dry weight registered 2.3g. showing that enough contaminant could accumulate to alter the shroud dating enormously. Checks made with non-microbiologists also showed they were unable to correctly pick the contaminated sample.

   To get a better grasp of the degree of the effects that contamination can have, if we started with a sample of carbon-14 having 1000 cpm (counts per minute), after 500, 1000, 2000, and 5730 years we would expect the counts remaining to be about 937, 886, 785, and 500 respectively. A 10% by weight contamination  with new material at normal steady state activity would introduce another 100 cpm., the effects being worst for the oldest sample, the age of which would be reduced by about 1500 years.

   One of the anomalies arising from the carbon-dating fiasco has been the intensity of the dogmatism shown by participants, and their inability to consider alternative scenarios suggested by contrary evidence.

   A history of a shroud bearing an image of Jesus can be traced as far back as 30-50 A.D. when it was taken from Jerusalem to Edessa (now Urfa in Eastern Turkey). Here it remained until 943 A.D. when it fell into Muslim hands--but was released on payment of a ransom and then lodged at Constantinople. A painting of it still exists in Hungary done by an artist in 1192 to illustrate the "Pray Manuscript." It shows the naked body of Jesus laid out as in the Turin shroud, with four fingers and no thumbs on crossed over hands, right hand on top, and also has a distinctive blood stain showing above the right eye as on the original Turin shroud. 

   The shroud at Constantinople disappeared from the history books following the French-led 4th crusade that resulted in the sacking of Constantinople in 1204. It may then have been in the hands of the Crusader Order of Knights Templar and in the custody of the de Charny family in France. It remained with this family until relinquished by them and installed at Saint Chapelle, Chambery, in 1532. From there it was moved to Turin in 1578.

   One of the remarkable features of the Turin shroud is what resulted when it was exposed to an image analyzer, called the VP-8. This was developed by NASA to enable shades of black and white to be transformed into levels of vertical height that could be viewed and adjusted on a TV-type screen. When the shroud's image was placed under this machine the result was a 3-D effect in vertical relief!

   Inventor of the machine, electronics engineer Peter Schumacher, remarked: "...I had never heard of the Shroud of Turin before that moment. I had no idea of what I was looking at. The results are unlike anything I have processed through the VP-8 Image Analyzer before or since. Only the Shroud of Turin has ever produced those results.