Shroud of Turin: Blood and Sweat Analysis
A recent study conducted on a fiber from the Shroud of Turin states:
“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.”
“The nanoparticles attached to the linen fibers have recorded a scenario of great suffering, whose victim was then wrapped up in the funeral cloth.”
This study, conducted by three Italian teams of scientists, is important for several reasons:
- The use of a new technology in Shroud research: electron microscopy.
- The fabric fiber was taken from an area of the Shroud that didn't contain any apparent blood.
- The study of substances on a fiber from the Shroud at the atomic level.
The teams found creatinine and ferritin iron nanoparticles attached to the fiber they were analyzing. These two biological substances are found in normal mammal and human blood and sweat. When found in high concentrations, they indicate muscle trauma and impaired kidney function.
In spite of what the researchers conclude, it is important to note that the mere presence of creatinine on the Shroud fiber does not conclusively indicate that the person wrapped in the Shroud was tortured or suffered greatly. To reach that conclusion, the researchers would need a volume of blood or sweat to compare the concentrations.
Further, the researchers did not find molecules of creatinine or ferritin iron. What they did find was atomic components of these two substances.
The presence of these substances on the Shroud fiber is, however, further indication that the Shroud is not a painting, but an artifact that has been in contact with a human body.
Read article here.
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