At least half the bloodstains on the
Holy Shroud of Turin are fake, a new study says.
Only some of the stains are compatible with the position of a
crucified man, while others do not find justification in any
position of the body, either on the cross or in the tomb, said
the study carried out by Matteo Borrini of the University of
Liverpool and Luigi Garlaschelli of pseudoscience expose group
CICAP.
The experiment, which used forensic-science methods to
reconstruct the formation of the stains, was published in the
latest issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences.
"We did not analyze the substance that formed the stains but
we wanted to verify how they could have been formed on the
shroud," Borrini told ANSA.
To do this, crucifixion was simulated on one of the authors
of the study, Garlaschelli, using both real and artificial
blood.
"We simulated crucifixion on crosses of different shapes,
different types of wood and using different positions of the
body, such as with horizontal arms that were parallel to the
ground and ones in which they were vertical, above the head,"
Borrini said.
Thanks to this experiment in the line of how crime scenes are
reconstructed, the researchers reconstructed the way in which
the blood stains were formed on the wrists, forearms, those due
to chest wounds and blood stains around the waist on the shroud.
This showed that the stain on the trunk is compatible with
the position of a crucified man, as well as the "stains on the
forearms, which indicate that the arms were stretched very high,
in a position over 45 degrees".
However, the stains on the wrist and in the lumbar area
"cannot be justified in any position of the body, either on the
cross or after buried", he noted.
The experiment showed that one of the stains is entirely
unrealistic, one that is shaped like a belt around the lumbar
area, due to the possible bleeding after the death from a wound
to the side, whether when the body was laid in its burial
position or when it was wrapped in the shroud.
"Our experiments on a mannequin," the researcher said,
"showed that in this case the blood would not have arrived at
the kidney area, and would have instead accumulated in the area
of the shoulder blade."
The researchers believe that this stain, similar to a belt,
"seems a mark made in an artificial manner, using a market or a
finger".
All of these results, taken together lead to the conclusion
that the shroud is an artistic product "in line with previous
analyses, such as carbon dating, which have shown that the
shroud was made in the Middle Ages".
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