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per: Thermochimica Acta (Volume 425 pages 189-194, by Raymond N.
Rogers, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of California) A paper in Thermochimica Acta, is available on Elsevier BV's
ScienceDirect® online information site. Elsevier is one of the world's largest
providers of ethical, peer-reviewed scientific, technical and medical
literature. The paper, The abstract in Thermochimica Acta reads in part: Preliminary estimates of the kinetics constants for
the loss of vanillin from lignin indicate a much older age for the cloth than
the radiocarbon analyses. The radiocarbon sampling area is uniquely coated with
a yellow–brown plant gum containing dye lakes. Pyrolysis-mass-spectrometry
results from the sample area coupled with microscopic and microchemical
observations prove that the radiocarbon sample was not part of the original
cloth of the Shroud of Turin. The radiocarbon date was thus not valid for
determining the true age of the shroud. The problem is called material intrusion. It is an uncommon problem in some
carbon 14 dating exercises. For instance, in dating peat bogs, which may be very
old, the samples often contain miniscule roots from newer plants that grew in
the peat. Sometimes the roots, having decomposed, are indistinguishable from the
older peat. What is tested might simply be a mixture of old and new material
leading to erroneous results. No one expected that material intrusion might be a
problem with the Shroud of Turin. But it was. By some estimates, as much as 60
percent of the Shroud of Turin sample was new thread, the result of mending in
the 16th century. This is sufficient to change the date of a 1st century shroud
to the medieval date range arrived at by the carbon 14 dating. Links to the Thermochimica Acta paper may be found at
Shroud of Turin Story |
The
scientific study of the Turin shroud is like a microcosm of the
scientific search for God: it does more to inflame any debate than
settle it.”
It is
simply not known how the ghostly image of a serene, bearded man was
made.”
Scientist-Journalist Philip Ball Nature, that most prestigious of scientific journals, that once had bragging rights to claim that the Shroud was fake, responding to new, peer-reviewed studies that discredit the carbon 14 dating and show that the Shroud could be authentic. WHAT WE KNOW IN 2005
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