An intriguing new Shroud of Turin study reportedly casts doubt on a landmark 1988 examination of the cloth that found it to be a medieval hoax. The often-cited research from three decades ago saw the Catholic Church allow independent laboratories in England, the United States, and Switzerland to subject portions of the alleged relic to radiocarbon testing in order to determine its age. The study's conclusion that the shroud was actually from somewhere between 1260 and 1390 sparked worldwide headlines declaring that the mystery was solved. However, a new look at that project seemingly upends the controversial findings.
Remarkably, the raw data from the study had been kept secret from the public for nearly three decades and all requests from independent investigators to see the information had been rebuffed by the institutions. Finally, in 2017, a team of researchers filed a Freedom of Information request to the British Museum, which oversaw the project and was in possession of the materials. Much to their surprise, the legal gambit worked and they managed to get their hands on the much-coveted information.
A subsequent two-year-long study of the raw data led to the conclusion that the 1988 project was rather problematic. "The tested samples are obviously heterogeneous from many different dates," team leader Tristan Casabianca explained, "there is no guarantee that all these samples, taken from one end of the shroud, are representative of the whole fabric. It is, therefore, impossible to conclude that the Shroud of Turin dates from the Middle Ages."
More on this fascinating story at the Coast to Coast AM website.