Blood reinforced by pigments in the reddish stains of the Turin Shroud

Abstract

Abstract Samples from the Turin Shroud (TS) furnished by STERA Inc. have been analyzed and compared with both material coming from the TS and sticky tapes taken from a copy of the TS produced in 1656 and conserved at Palma di Montechiaro, Sicily, Italy. The attention has been focalized to the many reddish particles contained in these samples that appear to be of many types, shape and sizes. Some of them seem to correspond to the so called “sub-micron particles” recognized by W. McCrone in the form of red ochre (iron oxide) and vermillion (mercury sulfide); the others, as described by many researchers of the STuRP like A. Adler and J. Heller, seem typical of blood. After a detailed analysis of these particles by using various types of microscopes and by performing different spectral analyses like Raman and EDX, the results obtained are commented, reaching the conclusion that the analyzed reddish material, corresponding to some TS bloodstain area, contain human blood reinforced with pigments. It can therefore be supposed that the bloodstains, originally composed of blood, have been refreshed by some artist perhaps during the XVII century.