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 <sup>36</sup>Cl 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 <sup>36</sup>Cl 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.
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