Investigating the Color of the Blood on the Shroud of Turin (original) (raw)
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SPIE Proceedings HPLS&A, 2019
The archaeological cloth known as the Shroud of Turin is a controversial object for both scientific and religious reasons. After a brief introduction on the scientific data about the age of the cloth and the microscopic complexity of the images embedded on it, we discuss the unique reddish color of blood stains on the Shroud, which caught the attention of several scholars in the last decades. Various hypotheses were proposed to explain the blood stains reddish color, and the experimental tests produced uncertain results because data were not sufficient or were obtained in vitro. We have tested the strength of two hypotheses, namely, the long term influence of ultraviolet (UV) light on high-bilirubin blood and the presence of carboxyhemoglobin, respectively by RGB color analyses of high-bilirubin blood after irradiation by ns excimer laser pulses and UV lamp and by the study of the spectral reflectance of the blood stains on the Shroud.
Applied Optics vol. 57, pp. 6626-6631 , 2018
The unique reddish blood stains on the archaeological cloth known as the Shroud of Turin caught the attention of several scholars, who proposed different hypotheses to explain the unusual blood color. To date, just few hypotheses have been tested experimentally, and the results are debatable. In this paper we test the strength of two hypotheses (namely, the presence of carboxyhemoglobin and the long term influence of ultraviolet light on high-bilirubin blood) by the spectral reflectance of the blood stain regions on the Shroud and by color analyses of ultraviolet irradiated high-bilirubin blood stains on linen. The relevance of these simple methods to the study of stained textiles is discussed.
PLOS One, 2010
The ability to determine the time since deposition of a bloodstain found at a crime scene could prove invaluable to law enforcement investigators, defining the time frame in which the individual depositing the evidence was present. Although various methods of accomplishing this have been proposed, none has gained widespread use due to poor time resolution and weak age correlation. We have developed a method for the estimation of the time since deposition (TSD) of dried bloodstains using UV-VIS spectrophotometric analysis of hemoglobin (Hb) that is based upon its characteristic oxidation chemistry. A detailed study of the Hb Soret band (lmax = 412 nm) in aged bloodstains revealed a blue shift (shift to shorter wavelength) as the age of the stain increases. The extent of this shift permits, for the first time, a distinction to be made between bloodstains that were deposited minutes, hours, days and weeks prior to recovery and analysis. The extent of the blue shift was found to be a function of ambient relative humidity and temperature. The method is extremely sensitive, requiring as little as a 1 ml dried bloodstain for analysis. We demonstrate that it might be possible to perform TSD measurements at the crime scene using a portable low-sample-volume spectrophotometer.
A Simple, Natural Mechanism for the Transfer of Dry Bloodstains onto the Shroud of Turin
International Journal of Archaeology, 2023
The Shroud of Turin is a large linen cloth that bears the faint image of a crucified man containing bloodstains corresponding to scourging and crucifixion. Although the Shroud has been heralded as the most studied archaeological object in the world, the nature and origin of the image remains enigmatic, with explanations ranging from the natural to the supernatural. The bloodstains have been demonstrated to contain authentic blood components including hemoglobin, albumin, and immunoglobulin, although the species of origin remains to be determined. Controversy exists regarding the proposed blood transfer from a body to the cloth, particularly if certain bloodstains occurred in a dry state. The suggestion has been made that dried blood was thrust onto the cloth by a brief radiation burst emitted from the body, although demonstration of such a process is lacking. Here, a simple, natural mechanism is shown that could account for the imprinting of dried bloodstains onto the Shroud. Specifically, these studies examine the idea that temperature and humidity conditions like those described for a cave tomb environment are sufficient for the rehydration and transfer of dry blood stains. Moreover, these data demonstrate that high humidity imprinting faithfully represents the original patterns of dried blood and dried serum stains on skin.
2014
The presence of bloodstains certifies that a wounded human body has been enveloped in the Shroud of Turin and that most parts of this corpse came in direct contact with the cloth during the burial procedure. On the contrary, the ventral body image, by correlation between image intensity and cloth-body distance, shows codified information regarding the distance from which the cloth was versus the body at the time of the image formation. At first sight, this last statement seems to be impossible for a human corpse. Therefore, the coexistence of the bloodstains and the body imprints on both sides of the Shroud could be seen as unnatural, especially when we consider that a deterministic process as the UV radiation or the action of an electrostatic field (corona discharge), as well as manmade chemical and thermal treatment. These processes do not explain all the known characteristics of the body images (ventral and dorsal) because they do not distinguish the fibrils that must be yellowed from the ones that must retain the background colour. In this paper we prove that a natural stochastic process can offer a rational and scientific explanation that can account for all the known properties of these bloodstains and body images. However, another possible explanation that must be taken into account is a natural process involving the production of oxygen that yields a latent image.
Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 2015
The Turin Shroud was extensively scientifically investigated in 1978. In its pinkish red bloodstains, normal features of human blood were found, but also seemingly anomalous ones. In the present study, hitherto unnoticed details of the data are presented, Shroud data and more modern reference data are compared, and the results of a few experiments with linen, madder dye and blood are shown. It turns out that the Shroud’s ‘anomalous’ data are strong consistent evidence that its bloodstains contain acid heme-madder lake, of which the heme derived from cold acid postmortem blood and the madder had been applied to the Shroud at manufacture. It implies that the bloodstains were formed on the Shroud before the still not reproduced body-image was. Several other ‘red-color’ hypotheses for the Shroud’s bloodstains are discussed and dismissed.
A Critical Analysis of Chromotherapy and Its Scientific Evolution
2005
Chromotherapy is a method of treatment that uses the visible spectrum (colors) of electromagnetic radiation to cure diseases. It is a centuries-old concept used successfully over the years to cure various diseases. We have undertaken a critical analysis of chromotherapy and documented its scientific evolution to date. A few researchers have tried to discover the underlying scientific principles, but without quantitative study. Sufficient published material can be found about the subject that provides a complete system of treatment focused on the treatment methodologies and healing characteristics of colors. A number of studies have elaborated the relationship between the human body and colors. We also show the possibility of carrying out diverse research into chromotherapy that is pertinent to deciphering the quantum mechanical dipole moment of water molecules. The quantum mechanical dipole moment as a result of the absorption of different colors, we conjecture, produces charge quan...
Deep Ultraviolet Radiation Simulates the Turin Shroud Image
Journal of Imaging Science and Technology 54, 040302-(6) (2010), 2010
The faint yellowed body image embedded into the linen cloth of the Turin Shroud has peculiar chemical and physical characteristics that at the moment cannot be replicated all together in laboratory. The authors present experimental results of ArF excimer laser irradiation (wavelength 193 nm) of a raw linen fabric, seeking for coloration similar to that of the Shroud image. The authors achieved a permanent yellow coloration of linen as a threshold effect of the laser beam intensity and number of shots. Most important, the authors have achieved for the first time a submicrometer depth of coloration of the outermost part of the fibers, leaving a colorless fiber medulla. The authors also obtained latent coloration that appears after artificial aging of linen following laser irradiation that at first did not generate any visible effect. The authors have recognized different physical and chemical processes involved in both coloration and latent coloration. The comparison of the Turin Shroud image with the results of our ArF laser irradiation shows an interesting overlap of the main physical and chemical features.
UV-Visible spectroscopic effect on Haemoglobin & DNA degradation: A forensic approach
Forensic Science International, 2020
In forensic casework, sample degradation is a largely an unsolved problem that exists due to poor preservation protocols. In Indian subcontinent, the forensic blood stains are commonly exposed to different ecological conditions for months before they are collected and transferred to the forensic laboratory for analysis. Under such conditions, the question of haemoglobin (Hb) & nucleic acid stability is of utmost importance. The biological evidence, especially the blood sample that underwent extreme conditions should further be retained in an appropriate storage facility until processed for the forensic serology/DNA testing. The present study provides the spectroscopic approach of analyzing Hb and DNA degradation of forensic blood samples preserved under varied conditions (tabulated and graphically). These samples were further subjected to and DNA analysis to assess the quality of sample based on different preservation conditions. At last, this study suggests the effective and appropriate preservation protocol of sample soon after its collection.
Forensic Science International: Reports, 2020
Serological analysis of blood on objects can be challenging, particularly those for which limited background information is available. The Shroud of Turin is an aged linen cloth that shows the images of a man bearing wounds corresponding to scourging and crucifixion. The bloodstains on the Shroud are often reported as being human in origin; however, a modern revaluation of the prior experimental design indicates that blood from other species would have also tested positive. The current perspective underscores the importance of consideration of a broad spectrum of potential cross-reactivity in bloodstain analysis, particularly with objects that are of indefinite origin.