The mystery of the Shroud of Turin solved - scientists made a loud announcement
Shroud of Turin - a mysterious artefact, around which for many decades there have been heated debates among scientists, historians and representatives of the Church.
The question of the origin of this cloth - and especially how the image of a human figure appeared - remains open. Among the most popular versions: the shroud was created as an art object in the Middle Ages or it is a real burial shroud in which the body of Jesus Christ was wrapped after his execution.
Radiocarbon analysis in 1989 dated the shroud between 1260 and 1390 AD, which confirms the "medieval" theory.
Later, however, there were versions that a fragment added during restoration was used for the analysis, and more recent experiments even shifted the date of creation of the cloth closer to the first century. Nevertheless, there is still no consensus on exactly how and when the famous cloth came to be.
Now a new argument has been added to the scientific debate: a study published in the journal Archaeometry, with the help of 3D-modelling analysed how the print on the shroud could have appeared. Compared the results of the "contact" overlay fabric on a full three-dimensional human figure and a low-relief (flat) model - in fact, bas-relief or statue with a small volume.
It turned out that when laying the fabric on a voluminous body, the print is distorted: the image seems wider and does not correspond to anatomical proportions. This effect, reminiscent of the effect of the "mask of Agamemnon" (the famous mask from Mycenae, looking like a flattened face), is well explained in terms of physics and geometry.
But the image on the Shroud of Turin - more slender and anatomically correct. When modelling with low-relief statue print coincided with the real image on the shroud much more accurately: less distortion and closer to the contours of the head and torso.
The author of the work, researcher Cicero Moraz, comments: "The contact pattern obtained with the bas-relief, much better match with the real image of the shroud. Projection from a three-dimensional figure results in noticeable distortions."
Although the new study does not put an end to the dispute about the dating of the artefact, it tilts the scales in favour of the artistic origin of the shroud. By the way, the technique of low relief was widespread in medieval art, which fits well with the hypothesis of the "medieval" origin of the cloth.
Moraz also encourages colleagues to use available digital tools and conduct their own experiments with 3D models to further explore historical mysteries.