The Carbon Dating Controversy

1. The Carbon Dating Controversy • Original protocol agreed to in 1985 was to include seven different labs. • Three were to be new AMS nuclear accelerator labs and four were to be older proportional counter labs. • The tests were to be blind by also dating control samples from other linens. • From three to five samples were to be cut from at least three different locations on the cloth.

2. The Protocol Ignored • Only three labs selected • All were AMS nuclear accelerators--no proportional counter labs were included • The tests were not blind--all three labs knew which samples were from the Shroud • Only one site was cut for the sample and cut into three sections.

3. The Sample • Cut from one of the worst possible sites on the cloth according to archaeologists. • Outside selvedge edge/corner • Adjacent to a seam believed to be Medieval • Handled dozens of times over the centuries • Adjacent to a water stain and burn area from the 1532 fire.

4. What Did They Date? • No chemical analysis was done on samples prior to dating in 1988 • Spectral analysis on fibers from sample area done in 1996 show that it was not chemically consistent with the rest of the cloth • Ten times as much salt and the presence of starch

5. A Re-weave? • Evidence from photo-analysis of samples show threads of varying diameters • Presence of starch may indicate “Invisible Mending” by Medieval weavers • Eight centimeters were cut but one cm was eliminated due to extraneous material. What was it? • Was the side strip added or part of the original cloth?

6. Bio-Plastic Coating? • Microorganisms abound on the linen • Anaerobic bacteria leave a plastic-like coating on the fibers • Proven to skew C-14 dating results on other artifacts • A factor in skewing the Shroud date?

7. Effect of 1532 Fire? • Melted silver burned through the cloth. • Doused with gallons of water • Silver melts at 900 degrees centigrade • Could the heat and carbon rich gases have created an environment for isotopic exchange thus altering the C14/C12 ratio?

8. Too Many questions left unanswered With only one sample from one of the worst locations possible, the C-14 dating tests of 1988 are totally inadequate to render as irrelevant one of the greatest historical artifacts of all time.

9. Medieval? • A painted forgery? • Who did it? • How did he do it? • Why can’t we replicate it? • Can the Shroud with all of its complex details be adequately explained in a Medieval context?

10. Recent discoveries from pollen tell a different story Evidence show the cloth most likely originated in the Holy Land

11. Recent Pollen Studies Two Israeli scientists: Dr. Avinoam Danin--World’s leading expert on the flora of Palestine, author of 6 books, Professor at the Hebrew University. Dr. Uri Baruch--Palynologist, Israel Antiquities Authority, Hebrew University

12. Gundelia tournefortii • Flowering thorn plant that grows only in Middle East--Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Israel • Represents 40% of the 204 pollen analyzed from tape samples • Also confirmed by flower image on the anatomical left shoulder of Shroud image • Blooms only in April and May • Insect pollinated species

13. Pistacia lentiscus • Very clear image found on abdomen of Shroud image. • Significant because it was a commercially purchased spice plant sold in markets • Consistent with biblical record of spices in the tomb

14. Zygophyllum dumosum • Flower images found on upper chest • Endemic to Israel, Sinai and Jordan with unusual and readily identifiable leaf morphology • Blooms between January and May