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Relic, Icon or Hoax?: Carbon Dating the Turin Shroud
Interest in the Turin Shroud continues to the present day even though it was finally carbon dated in 1988 and shown not to be of an age consistent with Christ's burial. Scientifically, the age of the shroud cloth is of little consequence, but to the general public, it is of considerable significance.The author Harry E. Gove is a co-inventor of accelerator mass spectrometry and was responsible for its use in establishing whether the Turin Shroud could have been Christ's burial cloth. Relic, Icon or Hoax?: Carbon Dating the Turin Shroud presents an eyewitness account of the events that culminated in the final determination of the age of the linen cloth of the Turin Shroud and some of the subsequent reactions to the results. The book discusses the application of accelerator mass spectrometry to the carbon dating of the Turin Shroud using samples only a few square centimeters in area and weighing only a few tens of milligrams.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1996
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August 18, 2024
THE SCIENTIFIC REPORT ON THE CARBON-14 TESTING OF THE SHROUD
The author Harry E. Gove is a co-inventor of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and was responsible for its use in testing the Turin Shroud; he wrote in the "Acknowledgements" of this 1996 book, "The Turin Shroud would not have been carbon dated were it not for the technology of accelerator mass spectrometry... This curious association between science and religion that led to the dating of the Turin Shroud succeeded because of the participation of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences..." (Pg. xiii)
He says that the members of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) "comprised mainly true believers in the Shroud's authenticity... I believed STURP's members to be so convinced it was Christ's shroud that I was determined to prevent their involvement in its carbon dating... Fortunately in this I was successful." (Pg. 6-7)
He argued, "The [1978] STURP tests conducted so far involved exposing the shroud to powerful visible light, ultraviolet light and X-rays. They could have been very harmful to the shroud... the collection of surface detritus with sticky tape could [hardly] be beneficial to the shroud... The STURP tests constituted a stress no matter how careful they might think they were being... and could have caused image fading." (Pg. 166)
He records, "No one handling the shroud... wore gloves. There was absolutely no ceremony---everything was carried out in a businesslike manner. As soon as the sample ... had been removed it was weighed... Riggi then divided the strip into three approximately equal pieces... He then inserted the shroud samples in their aluminum wrapping in specially machined stainless steel cylinders. One was given to each lab representative along with three other cylinders containing the controls. Almost the entire procedure had been videotaped and photographed by technicians ... The only part of the operation that had not been viewed by anyone other than the cardinal, Tite, and Gonella was what took place in the Sala Capitolare although most of that was videotaped. This mildly flawed procedure later provided grounds for some 'true believers' to argue that substitutions for shroud cloth had been made." (Pg. 261)
He notes, "in mid-October 1988, I received a document ... written by Meacham. It presented his concerns about the possible exchange of carbon isotopes that could have taken place during the fire in 1532. This and other forms of contamination of the small samples ... had been constantly pointed to by critics of carbon dating as reasons not to trust any shroud date so obtained. Remarkably enough, the statement was made by Meacham that the sample was taken from a scorched area. (That was simply not true as Meacham very well knew.)" (Pg. 283-284) He concludes, "the adventure is over---it lasted too long and was filled with too much acrimony. I felt no joy in the final result except that it proved the power of AMS to credibly date precious artifacts."
Even for those who disagree with the C-14 results, this book will be "must reading" for anyone seriously studying the Shroud.
The author Harry E. Gove is a co-inventor of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and was responsible for its use in testing the Turin Shroud; he wrote in the "Acknowledgements" of this 1996 book, "The Turin Shroud would not have been carbon dated were it not for the technology of accelerator mass spectrometry... This curious association between science and religion that led to the dating of the Turin Shroud succeeded because of the participation of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences..." (Pg. xiii)
He says that the members of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) "comprised mainly true believers in the Shroud's authenticity... I believed STURP's members to be so convinced it was Christ's shroud that I was determined to prevent their involvement in its carbon dating... Fortunately in this I was successful." (Pg. 6-7)
He argued, "The [1978] STURP tests conducted so far involved exposing the shroud to powerful visible light, ultraviolet light and X-rays. They could have been very harmful to the shroud... the collection of surface detritus with sticky tape could [hardly] be beneficial to the shroud... The STURP tests constituted a stress no matter how careful they might think they were being... and could have caused image fading." (Pg. 166)
He records, "No one handling the shroud... wore gloves. There was absolutely no ceremony---everything was carried out in a businesslike manner. As soon as the sample ... had been removed it was weighed... Riggi then divided the strip into three approximately equal pieces... He then inserted the shroud samples in their aluminum wrapping in specially machined stainless steel cylinders. One was given to each lab representative along with three other cylinders containing the controls. Almost the entire procedure had been videotaped and photographed by technicians ... The only part of the operation that had not been viewed by anyone other than the cardinal, Tite, and Gonella was what took place in the Sala Capitolare although most of that was videotaped. This mildly flawed procedure later provided grounds for some 'true believers' to argue that substitutions for shroud cloth had been made." (Pg. 261)
He notes, "in mid-October 1988, I received a document ... written by Meacham. It presented his concerns about the possible exchange of carbon isotopes that could have taken place during the fire in 1532. This and other forms of contamination of the small samples ... had been constantly pointed to by critics of carbon dating as reasons not to trust any shroud date so obtained. Remarkably enough, the statement was made by Meacham that the sample was taken from a scorched area. (That was simply not true as Meacham very well knew.)" (Pg. 283-284) He concludes, "the adventure is over---it lasted too long and was filled with too much acrimony. I felt no joy in the final result except that it proved the power of AMS to credibly date precious artifacts."
Even for those who disagree with the C-14 results, this book will be "must reading" for anyone seriously studying the Shroud.
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