13. Are there any other ways than radiocarbon to date the Shroud of Turin?
- What could be observed about image properties by looking at the damage from the fire of 1532?
- What options for future scientific study of the Shroud's history and image were lost as a result of the "restoration" of 2002?
- What are the optical and physical properties of flax fibers (linen)?
- What Shroud image properties have been observed objectively by scientific methods?
- Can the presence of a "bioplastic polymer" coating anywhere on the Turin Shroud be confirmed? Could it affect the radiocarbon age determination?
- Could a "bioplastic polymer" affect the radiocarbon age of the Shroud of Turin?
- How do you know that the image on the Shroud of Turin was not painted?
- How do you know that there is real blood on the Shroud?
- How do you know that the image was not produced by radiation?
- How do you know that the image was not a scorch? How do you know that most of the Shroud had not been heated enough to start decomposition?
- How do you know that the radiocarbon sample was not valid for dating the Shroud of Turin?
- How do you know that the fire of AD 1532 did not start a long-term autocatalytic decomposition of the Turin Shroud?
- Why are there bands of different colored linen throughout the Shroud, and what do they prove about image formation mechanisms?
- How fast does cellulose (linen) decompose (produce a color) compared with the impurities found on the Shroud of Turin?
- How is it possible to get image only on the topmost surface of the cloth of the Turin Shroud?
- Can some simple, natural process explain a doubly-superficial image?
- How fast does a human body begin to decompose, and what are the products?
- How do you know that the flax fibers were not involved in image formation?
Answer to # 13:
Archaeologists use many different methods to estimate the age of artifacts and/or soil strata that contain artifacts. One of the most important ways is to observe changes in technology: methods used to make tools change with time. There is a big difference between the hand axes made during the Paleolithic and fine arrow points made a few hundred years ago. The technology used to make the Shroud was much different than that used during medieval times or modern times.
Stone tools hydrate and form a patina. Its thickness indicates age. Similarly, all organic materials tend to decompose or change structure with time. Proteins undergo "racemization." Their amino acids change their optical properties. This would apply to the blood on the Shroud.
The DNA in blood and tissue samples degrades with time. The DNA in Shroud blood samples shows the effects of significant aging: only short lengths of the chain remain intact. The reported ABO typing results are very suspect and probably not valid. However, the results prove appreciable age for the Shroud.
Crystalline materials undergo damage that is caused by natural sources of radiation, and Shroud fibers show some evidence for changes in their crystal structure.
Some compounds like lignin change composition with time. The lignin in the Shroud does not give the normal microchemical test for vanillin, indicating that it is quite old. Measurements of the chemical rate for loss of vanillin estimates an age for the Shroud of more than 1300 years, depending on storage conditions.
© 2004 Daniel R. Porter, Bronxville, New York
