Did the Shroud of Turin really wrap Jesus after his crucifixion, more than two millennia ago? Don’t expect to find the answer here: DNA analyzes have revealed numerous traces of people and animals, accumulated over the centuries. The 4.4 meter by 1.1 meter shroud is one of the best-known and most controversial Christian relics.
Its first documented appearance dates back to 1354 in France, before its transfer to the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. Several checks were made on the piece of sacred fabric: carbon dating was carried out in particular to try to determine its age. They place the manufacture of the fabric between 1260 and 1390, well after the death of Christ – something that some specialists in Christianity dispute.
In 2015, Gianni Barcaccia and his team analyzed fragments recovered in 1978 from the relic. Their work notably suggests a possible Indian origin of the linen used for the shroud. Gianni Barcaccia will subsequently analyze these samples a second time, claiming to have found a great diversity of medieval and modern DNA, explains New Scientist.
These traces would include domestic animals such as cats and dogs as well as farm animals such as chickens, pigs, horses or rabbits. The researchers even found traces of marine animals, such as Atlantic cod or mullet, as well as numerous insects (flies, arachnids, mites, etc.). That’s a lot for just one shroud.
It deserves a little laundry
In all this mess of DNA, plant traces were also identified: carrots, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, among others. This suggests multiple contacts with various people, places and goods, without being able to precisely date each contamination, and therefore to finely retrace the historical journey of the relic.
Finally, the DNA of a very large number of people was found on the fabric, including that of the members of the 1978 team. “The Shroud came into contact with several individuals, calling into question the possibility of identifying the original DNA.”write the authors. Nearly 40% of human DNA analyzed is linked to Indian lineages, which, according to them, “could be due to historical interactions or the importation by the Romans of flax from regions near the Indus Valley.”
Anders Götherström, of Stockholm University in Sweden, points out that research dating the shroud to the 13th century is, on the whole, accepted by the scientific community: “Although the 1988 carbon-14 dating is the subject of some debate, most researchers consider it sufficiently reliable.â€he says.
He remains unconvinced by the hypothesis of an Indian origin of the fabric: “I still see no reason to doubt the French origin of the shroud and its dating between the 13th and 14th centuries. The shroud has its own history as an important relic, and this history is perhaps more interesting than an unfounded legendary origin. he concludes.
