Blood on the shroud of turin

Investigating the color of the blood stains on archaeological cloths: the case of the Shroud of Turin

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 a 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 stained 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.

A BPA Approach to the Shroud of Turin

An investigation into the arm and body position required to obtain the blood pattern visible in the image of the Shroud of Turin was performed using a living volunteer. The two short rivulets on the back of the left hand of the Shroud are only consistent with a standing subject with arms at a ca 45° angle. This angle is different from that necessary for the forearm stains, which require nearly vertical arms for a standing subject. The BPA of blood visible on the frontal side of the chest (the lance wound) shows that the Shroud represents the bleeding in a realistic manner for a standing position while the stains at the back-of a supposed postmortem bleeding from the same wound for a supine corpse-are totally unrealistic. Simulation of bleeding from the nail wounds contacting wood surfaces yielded unclear results.

Raman and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) Analyses of a Microsubstance Adhering to a Fiber of the Turin Shroud

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.

Atomic resolution studies detect new biologic evidences on the Turin Shroud

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.

Blood stains of the Turin Shroud 2015: beyond personal hopes and limitations of techniques

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. In the late '90s, together with the evidence of the gene coding β-globin, contamination between male and female DNA was documented on the Turin Shroud. Although the presence of male was more noticeable than female DNA, these data were considered null and void. These days, to establish that blood indisputably belongs to an MNS positive individual of the AB group, and to exclude DNA contamination, high-specificity techniques with monoclonal antibodies and molecular studies on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA are needed. Indeed, consistent with DNA contamination on the Turin Shroud, sequences from multiple subjects of different ethnic origins have been recently detected on the human mitochondrial genome extracted from dust particles of the linen. Innovative concepts are likely to come up using modern research approaches to evaluate the issue of blood stains of the Turin Shroud. Nor can we rule out the possibility that religious implications of the new findings on the Turin Shroud might be envisaged. Conceivably enough, the ongoing debate will be fierce and passionate, especially in the media.

Superficial and Shroud-like coloration of linen by short laser pulses in the vacuum ultraviolet

We present a survey on five years of experiments of excimer laser irradiation of linen fabrics, seeking 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 photochemical processes that account for both coloration and latent coloration.

Image formation mechanism on the Shroud of Turin: a solar reflex radiation model (the optical aspect)

Unprejudiced logical analysis of the main available data, in the first instance, those collected in 1978 by the American interdisciplinary team known as STURP, suggests that the image of the dead man on the Shroud of Turin resulted from (a) the reflection by the anointed body of transmitted solar rays and their projection onto the inner side of the cloth and (b) the chemical registration of this reflex image by the topmost fibers of the linen, probably with a water or oil solution of aloes and myrrh acting as a catalyzer. This reflex radiation model requires the following: (1) action at the shortest possible distance (i.e., a maximum clinging of the Shroud to the body except for a narrow intervening liquid film), which explains the high resolution and the absence of serious distortions, and (2) double exposure-of both the face and the back-of the enveloped corpse to the sun, which accounts for the presence and optical symmetry of both the frontal and the dorsal images. An attempt is also made to reinterpret the so-called three-dimensional information encoded in the image. Although some chemical issues are also mentioned and a historical reconstruction of the burial procedure is suggested, first and foremost the optical aspect of this mechanism is addressed here.

A test for blood in haematophagous insects and its application to apparent blood feeding in insectivorous Ceratopogonidae (Diptera)

A method is described to confirm the presence of blood in fixed haematophagous insects. It was used to establish that the dark gut contents of individuals of five genera of insectivorous midges (Ceratopogonidae) was not blood.