In the same issue of Nature that the radiocarbon dating results for the Shroud of Turin were published, Phillips hypothesized that neutron radiation could have altered the reported dates. In addition to making the Shroud appear younger than its true age, neutron radiation would have produced significant amounts of radioactive chlorine 36Cl in the Shroud. Two earlier papers showed that ultraviolet (uv) fluorescence intensity is non-uniform over the surface of the Shroud. The right side of the Shroud fluoresces more than the left side, and the Shroud’s dorsal side fluoresces more than its frontal side. The highest uv fluorescence occurs in the center of the Shroud’s dorsal side. The shape of the Shroud’s average uv fluorescence intensity spatial variations very closely matches the shape of the spatial radiocarbon dating variations calculated by Rucker in his computer simulation of Phillips’ neutron hypothesis. Experimental results given here for neutron irradiated modern linen demonstrate that such radiation increases the uv fluorescence intensity of linen. Experimental results also show that neutron radiation greatly increases the 36Cl content of modern linen. Thus, neutron radiation can explain both the Shroud’s anomalous radiocarbon dating and its unique spatial uv fluorescence properties. In order to test Phillips’ hypothesis additional research on the Shroud is required, and suggestions for such follow up research are given.
| Published in | International Journal of Archaeology (Volume 9, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11 |
| Page(s) | 34-44 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Shroud, Radiocarbon, Neutron, Radiation, Ultraviolet, Fluorescence Intensity, Radioactive Chlorine
| [1] | Damon P., Donahue D., Gore B., Hatheway A., Jull A., Linick T., Sercel P., Toolin L., Bronk C., Hall E., Hedges R., Housley R., Law I., Perry C., Bonani G., Trumbore S., Woelfli W., Ambers J., Bowman S., Leese M., Tite M. ‘Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin’, Nature (1989) 337 (16), 611-615. |
| [2] | R. Van Haelst, ‘Radiocarbon dating the Shroud: a critical statistical analysis’ (1997) available at https://www.shroud.com/ vanhels3.htm. |
| [3] | Schwalbe, L., Walsh, B., On cleaning methods and the raw radiocarbon data from the Shroud of Turin, International J. Archaeology (2021) 1, 10-16. |
| [4] | Casabianca T., Marinelli E., Pernagallo G., Torrisi B. ‘Radiocarbon dating of the Turin Shroud: new evidence from raw data’, Archaeometry (2019) 61, 1223-1231. |
| [5] | Fanti G., and Malfi P., The Shroud of Turin, Pan Sanford Publishing, Singapore (2015), Chapters 6, 7. |
| [6] | Gove H. ‘Dating the Shroud of Turin an assessment’, Radiocarbon (1990) 32 (1), 87-92. |
| [7] | Freer-Waters, R., and Jull, A. ‘Investigating a dated piece of the Shroud of Turin’, Radiocarbon (2010) 52 (4), 1521: 1527. |
| [8] | Rucker, R. ‘Carbon dating of the Shroud of Turin to 1260-1390 AD is not explained by normal contamination’, http://www.shroudresearch.net |
| [9] | Phillips, T. ‘Shroud irradiated with neutrons?’, Nature (1989) 337 (16), 594. |
| [10] | Rinaudo, J. B. ‘Nouveau mécanisme de formation de l’image sur le Linceul de Turin, ayant pu entraîner une fausse radiodatation médièvale’, L’Identification Scientifique de l’Homme du Linceul, Jésus de Nazareth Actes du Symposium Scientifique International, Rome 1993 F.-X. De Guibert Editor (1995) Paris, 293-299. |
| [11] | Rinaudo, J. B. ‘Protonic model of image formation on the Shroud of Turin’, Third International Congress on the Shroud of Turin (1998), Turin, Italy, June 5-7. |
| [12] | Rucker, R. ‘The carbon dating problem for the Shroud of Turin, Part 3: The neutron absorption hypothesis’, http://www.shroudresearch.net. |
| [13] | MCNP6 User’s Manual -Code Version 6.1.1 beta, LA-CP-14-0074, June 2014, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, New Mexico. |
| [14] | McAvoy T. ‘Analysis of UV photographs of the Shroud of Turin’, Appl. Opt. (2019a) 58, 6958-6965. |
| [15] | McAvoy T. ‘Shroud of Turin ultraviolet light: color and information content’, accepted by Appl. Opt. June, 2021. |
| [16] | CIE L*a*b Color Space, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIELAB_color_space. |
| [17] | Devan, D., Miller, V. ‘Quantitative photography of the Shroud of Turin’, IEEE 1982 Proceedings of the International Conference on Cybernetics and Society, 548-553. |
| [18] | McAvoy T. ‘Image processing applied to uv photo of the Holy Shroud of Turin which includes the radiocarbon test area’, Edited Papers from the 2019 International Shroud Conference, Ancaster, Canada, 124-135. |
| [19] | Lind A., Antonacci M., Fanti G., Elmore D., Guthrie J. ‘Production of radiocarbon by neutron radiation on linen’, Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Scientific approach to the Acheiropoietos Images, ENEA Frascati, Italy, 4-6 May. http://www.acheiropoietos.info/proceedings/LindWeb.pdf |
| [20] | Miller V., Pellicori S. ‘Ultraviolet fluorescence photography of the Shroud of Turin’, Journal of Biological Photography (1981) 49, 71-85. |
| [21] | Mann H. ‘Nonparametric tests against trend’, Econometrica (1945) 13, 245-259. |
| [22] | Kendall M. Rank Correlation Methods, Griffin (1975), London. |
| [23] | Needles H., Nowak, K. ‘Heat-induced aging of linen’, ACS SYMPOSIUM SERIES 410 Historic Textile and Paper Materials II Conservation and Characterization (1989), Chapter 11. |
| [24] | Gilfillan E., Linden, L. ‘Effects of nuclear radiation on the strength of yarn’, Textile Research Journal (1955) 25 (9), 773-777. |
| [25] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudarium_of_Oviedo |
| [26] | Rucker, R. Personal communication (2020). |
| [27] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperspectral_imaging. |
| [28] | MacQueen J. ‘Some methods for classification and analysis of multivariate observations’, Proceedings of 5th Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability 1, University of California Press (1975), Berkeley, 281–297. |
| [29] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine-36 |
| [30] | http://web.sahra.arizona.edu/programs/isotopes/chlorine.html |
| [31] | Herut, B., Starinsky, A., Katz, A., Boaretto, E., Berkovits, D. ‘36Cl in chloride rich rainwater’, Israel Earth and Planetary Science Letters (1992) 109: 179-183. |
| [32] | Sheppard S. C., Evendon W. G., and MacDonald C. R. ‘Variation among chlorine concentration ratios for native and agronomic plants’, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity (1999) 43, 65-76. |
| [33] | Kashparov V., Colle C., Levchuk S., Yoschenko V., and Svydynuk N. ‘Transfer of chlorine from the environment to agricultural foodstuffs’, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity (2007) 94 (1), 1-15. |
| [34] | Kashparov V., Colle C., Levchuk S., Yoschenko V., and Svydynuk N. ‘Radiochemical concentration ratios for agricultural plants in various soil conditions’, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity (2007) 95: 10-22. |
| [35] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retting |
| [36] | Bastviken, D., Svensson, T., Sanden, P., and Kylin, H. ‘Chlorine cycling and fates of 36Cl in terrestrial environments: Technical Report TR-13-26’, Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (2013), Stockholm, Sweden. |
APA Style
Thomas McAvoy. (2021). On Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin. International Journal of Archaeology, 9(2), 34-44. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11
ACS Style
Thomas McAvoy. On Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin. Int. J. Archaeol. 2021, 9(2), 34-44. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11
AMA Style
Thomas McAvoy. On Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin. Int J Archaeol. 2021;9(2):34-44. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11,
author = {Thomas McAvoy},
title = {On Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin},
journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
volume = {9},
number = {2},
pages = {34-44},
doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20210902.11},
abstract = {In the same issue of Nature that the radiocarbon dating results for the Shroud of Turin were published, Phillips hypothesized that neutron radiation could have altered the reported dates. In addition to making the Shroud appear younger than its true age, neutron radiation would have produced significant amounts of radioactive chlorine 36Cl in the Shroud. Two earlier papers showed that ultraviolet (uv) fluorescence intensity is non-uniform over the surface of the Shroud. The right side of the Shroud fluoresces more than the left side, and the Shroud’s dorsal side fluoresces more than its frontal side. The highest uv fluorescence occurs in the center of the Shroud’s dorsal side. The shape of the Shroud’s average uv fluorescence intensity spatial variations very closely matches the shape of the spatial radiocarbon dating variations calculated by Rucker in his computer simulation of Phillips’ neutron hypothesis. Experimental results given here for neutron irradiated modern linen demonstrate that such radiation increases the uv fluorescence intensity of linen. Experimental results also show that neutron radiation greatly increases the 36Cl content of modern linen. Thus, neutron radiation can explain both the Shroud’s anomalous radiocarbon dating and its unique spatial uv fluorescence properties. In order to test Phillips’ hypothesis additional research on the Shroud is required, and suggestions for such follow up research are given.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - On Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin AU - Thomas McAvoy Y1 - 2021/07/27 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11 T2 - International Journal of Archaeology JF - International Journal of Archaeology JO - International Journal of Archaeology SP - 34 EP - 44 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-7595 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20210902.11 AB - In the same issue of Nature that the radiocarbon dating results for the Shroud of Turin were published, Phillips hypothesized that neutron radiation could have altered the reported dates. In addition to making the Shroud appear younger than its true age, neutron radiation would have produced significant amounts of radioactive chlorine 36Cl in the Shroud. Two earlier papers showed that ultraviolet (uv) fluorescence intensity is non-uniform over the surface of the Shroud. The right side of the Shroud fluoresces more than the left side, and the Shroud’s dorsal side fluoresces more than its frontal side. The highest uv fluorescence occurs in the center of the Shroud’s dorsal side. The shape of the Shroud’s average uv fluorescence intensity spatial variations very closely matches the shape of the spatial radiocarbon dating variations calculated by Rucker in his computer simulation of Phillips’ neutron hypothesis. Experimental results given here for neutron irradiated modern linen demonstrate that such radiation increases the uv fluorescence intensity of linen. Experimental results also show that neutron radiation greatly increases the 36Cl content of modern linen. Thus, neutron radiation can explain both the Shroud’s anomalous radiocarbon dating and its unique spatial uv fluorescence properties. In order to test Phillips’ hypothesis additional research on the Shroud is required, and suggestions for such follow up research are given. VL - 9 IS - 2 ER -
Email: