Some experiments and remarks regarding the possible formation of blood stains on the Turin Shroud: stains attributed to the crown of thorns, the lance wound and the belt of blood

Abstract

The Turin Shroud (TS) is a Christian relic interpreted to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. It exhibits red discolorations that have been interpreted as blood stains and that are the subjects of a highly controversial discussion. We conducted experiments to identify theoretically possible explanations for the stains attributed to the crown of thorns, the lance wound and the belt of blood. In the experiments with a focus on the stains attributed to the crown of thorns, a very similar stain pattern as on the TS could be provoked by simulating the following sequence of events: blood from antemortem scalp wounds is covering hair and face; blood is coagulating and/or drying; blood components are mobilised by postmortem washing and oiling. A stain pattern very similar to the belt of blood on the TS was successfully provoked by simulating the following sequence of events: The body is lying in a supine position, blood or bloodied water flowing from a wound at the right lateral chest wall; the body is rotated to the left side; the Shroud is tucked under the back; the body is rotated back to a supine position and laid onto the Shroud. The so-called serum ring surrounding the stain attributed to the lance wound could be reproduced by sequential application of serum and whole blood samples or of pleural effusion and whole blood samples onto cotton cloth. It is obvious that any attempt to interpret the assumed blood stain pattern on the TS has serious limitations. Nevertheless, it seems remarkable that we were able to reproduce findings that appear to be very similar to stains on the TS.

Keywords: Belt of blood; Crown of thorns; Lance wound; Turin Shroud.

Fig. 1

Positive (left) and negative (right) photographs of the Turin Shroud (TS), depicting the frontal and dorsal image of a male human body (photo from www.shroudphotos.com, ©Vernon Miller, 1978)

Fig. 2

Experimental findings regarding the complex “blood stains attributed to injuries caused by the crown of thorns”, in comparison with the corresponding “blood stains” on a the Turin Shroud (TS) (photo from www.shroudphotos.com, ©Vernon Miller, 1978); b simulation 1a: liquid/moist blood from antemortem scalp wounds is covering the hair and the face; c simulation 1b: blood from antemortem scalp wounds is covering the hair and the face, blood is coagulating and/or drying and blood components are mobilised by postmortem washing; (d) simulation 2: as simulation 1b but with additional oiling of face and hairline. The findings in d seem to be most similar to the findings on the TS (a)

Fig. 3

Experimental findings regarding the complex “serum ring around the lance wound”: dried fluid spots after application of small samples of whole blood (a), vital whole blood on vital serum (b), postmortem whole blood on postmortem serum (c) and samples of postmortem blood on postmortem pleural effusion (d) onto cotton cloths. The findings in b–d are very similar; visually, a “serum ring” can not be distinguished from a “pleural effusion ring”

Fig. 4

Experiments regarding the complex “belt of blood”. Experimental provocation of a belt of blood: a simulation of a flow of blood or bloodied water from a chest wound by application of blood to the right lateral chest wall (according to the assumed location of the lance wound); b rotation of the body to the left side; c tucking the cloth under the body; d wrapping the cloth around the body

Fig. 5

Experiments regarding the complex “belt of blood”. Experimental findings on the cloth after the provocation of a belt of blood as illustrated in Fig. 4: a using undiluted blood and b, c using watery dilutions of blood (1:4 and 1:10, respectively); the findings appear very similar to the belt of blood on the TS (d) (photo from www.shroudphotos.com, ©Vernon Miller, 1978), especially when diluted blood samples were used