Pathologist who have examined the Shroud have concluded that it is the image of crucified man
The man is dead, in a state of rigor mortis. There are numerous wounds on the body and blood flows from many of these wounds. Most notable is a piercing wound on one visible wrist, though there are blood flows on both arms that suggest similar wounds to both wrists. There are similar wounds on the feet. The side has been pierced and there is a significant flow of blood and a clear liquid, possibly as a result of fluid accumulation in the chest cavities related to terminal cardio-respiratory failure. About the head are small puncture wounds with rivulets of blood flowing downward and into the hair. One eye seems particularly swollen and the nose seems to have suffered an abrasion. There are abrasions on the nose, on the knees, and across the shoulders. There are the definite images of a traumatic scourging on the back, chest and legs. The triple pattern of dumbbell shape wounds appear to have been made with a Roman flagrum. There are as many as 120 such wounds and it appears that the blows were delivered from both sides and at somewhat different heights, perhaps by two men.
There is dirt on the knees, on the tip of the nose, and on the feet. This dirt contains travertine aragonite limestone found in Israel, likely only found in this part of the world.
The bloodstains on the cloth are
human blood. The stains on the Shroud suggest that
there was a separation of blood and serum which happens after
the heart stops beating. It is significant to note that the
blood stains are not
on top of any image. This means that the blood stains pre-existed
any image formation. The blood is also very red in appearance.
The late Dr. Alan Adler, a chemist who has studied the Shroud
extensively explains that this is due to the presence of
bilirubin, a substance produced when the human body is under
severe traumatic stress.
The image of the man on the Shroud is anatomically correct and the differences in the vein and arterial blood flow conform to the proper circulation of blood in the body. The distinctive rivulets of blood flowing from the wrist wounds could only occur if the arms were stretched out approximately 65 degrees to the horizon. The thumbs are not visible as would be the case if nails or spikes were driven though the wrists. They would fold under into the palms of the hands. All of this was beyond the knowledge of the medieval period (or before) when such an image, if it was man-made, would have had to have been created.
 |
An
Autopsy on the Man of the Shroud Forensic pathologist Robert Bucklin, M.D. |
The
Man Of The Shroud Was Washed Frederick T. Zugibe |
| Pierre
Barbet Revisited Frederick T. Zugibe |
The
Shroud of Turin: Genuine
artifact or manufactured relic? Jack Kilmon |
|
| Computerized
Anthropometric Analysis of the Man of the Turin Shroud Emanuela Marinelli and co-authored with Alessandro Cagnazzo and Prof. Giulio Fanti |
Not
all pathologists who have examined the Shroud agree on all
details. There is disagreement among some as to whether the body
appears to have been washed. There is some argument as to the
precise position, anatomically, of the nail holes in the wrists
(note only one is visible) and the angle of the arms. While Dr.
Robert Bucklin argues that asphyxia, as would be caused by crucifixion,
is the the most likely cause of death, Dr. Frederick T. Zugibe,
M.D., Ph.D., once a professor of pathology at Columbia
University and the Chief Medical Examiner of Rockland County,
New York, argues that traumatic shock was likely the cause of
death.
One serious dissenter is Dr. Michael Baden, a former chief
medical examiner for New York City. He once described the Shroud
as medically convincing but he retracted his views after the 1988
carbon 14 testing by stating that the blood flows are "too
neat." However, if the body was washed prior to being
placed in the Shroud, as Dr. Zugibe contends, this could account
for this. Also, Dr. Gilbert Lavoie, a former consultant with the World
Health Organization has shown through experimentation that blood clots, similar to those on the Shroud, can occur if
contact is made with the cloth within two and a half hours after
bleeding stops.
With regard to the specific disagreement about the wrist injuries and the blood flow on the arms, Ian Wilson calls the disagreements of detail quibbles. He writes:
...these are minor quibbles that should not be allowed to detract from the overwhelming medical consensus that the Shroud's wrist and forearm blood flows convincingly represent how a human body might genuinely have been suspended by nails from a cross. Leading anatomists such as Dr. Robert Bucklin, retired Professor of Pathology at the Universities of Texas and California, Professor James Cameron, retired head to the London Hospital's School of Forensic Medicine, and Professor Michael Blunt, retired Challis Professor of Anatomy at the University of Sydney, Australia, are among innumerable members of the medical profession who have all agreed on this.
The general consensus of pathologist who have studied the Shroud is that it is an image of a dead man, still in rigor mortis, who was crucified with nails or spikes driven through his wrist and feet after being scourged. His side was pierced and about his head, both in front and in back, there are numerous smaller puncture wounds.
We know from history and archeological evidence that the Romans often broke the legs of crucifixion victims. The man on the Shroud's legs were not broken.
© 2004 Daniel R. Porter, Bronxville, New York
