New Findings on Shroud of Turin’s Age
The Shroud of Turin is much older than some scientists believe, according to researchers who used pollen and plant images to conclude that it dates from Jerusalem before the 8th century.
The study contradicts a 1988 examination by scientists who said the shroud was made between 1260 and 1390. As a result, it gives a boost to those who believe the shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus.
In June, the researchers said the cloth originated in the Jerusalem area, also contradicting the 1988 study, which concluded it came from Europe.
The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth, about 13 feet long and 3 feet wide, that has been kept in the city of Turin, Italy, since 1578. It bears the image of a man with wounds similar to those suffered by Jesus.
The shroud also contains pollen grains and faint images of plants.
“We have identified by images and by pollen grains species on the shroud restricted to the vicinity of Jerusalem,” botany professor Avinoam Danin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said Monday during the International Botanical Congress here.
The pollen grains on the shroud also provide information about its age, Danin said.
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