Travertine Aragonite Found on the Shroud of Turin
Joseph Kohlbeck, Resident Scientist at the Hercules Aerospace Center in Salt Lake, Utah, and Richard Levi-Setti of the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, examined embedded dirt particles taken from the foot region of the Shroud’s surface. Using a high-resolution microprobe, Levi-Setti and Kolbeck compared the spectra of dirt samples taken from the Shroud with samples of a relatively rare form of calcite, travertine aragonite, found near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. The chemical signatures of the Shroud samples and the dust found near Golgotha were identical except for some minute fragments of organic cellulous linen fiber that could not be separated from the Shroud samples. Kolbeck acknowledges that this is not absolute proof that the Shroud was in Jerusalem and that there might be other places in the world—though none are known—where travertine aragonite has the identical trace chemical composition.
If the Shroud is a medieval forgery that originated in medieval Europe, we must wonder how such dirt, likely from the environs of Jerusalem, became imbedded in the cloth.
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Much of the scientific material on this site is based on the work of Ray Rogers. Rogers, a chemist, is a science Fellow of the University of California, Los Alamos National Laboratory and a charter member of the Coalition for Excellence in Science Education. He has published many scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and U.S. Government publications. In 1978, together with several other scientists, he was invited to personally examine the Shroud of Turin in Italy for several days. He collected numerous measurements and samples of fibers and particulate materials for further study. Rogers died March 8, 2005..
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More information is available from links at Shroud of Turin Story and at A Forensic Science CSI - Pictures of Jesus on the Shroud of Turin
© 2004 Daniel R. Porter, Bronxville, New York
