Researchers in Italy announced a new discovery regarding a linen cloth that some believe was a burial shroud for Jesus Christ.
The team examined a sample from the Shroud of Turin and determined it could be 2,000 years old, Newsweek reported, citing a study published in the journal Heritage.
Scientists inspected this ancient fabric using a method called Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering. The group used this technique on a small sample of the Baptist, which is located in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.
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Citing the study, Newsweek noted that the researchers said the results of their inspection of the fabric were compatible with measurements collected from a linen sample from AD 55-74, and are consistent with the theory that the shroud is a 2,000-year-old relic. .
Newsweek noted that this latest report does not clarify whether the artifact was indeed Jesus’ burial shroud, but researchers determined that its age is consistent with his time.
Over the years, scholars have studied the Shroud of Turin, which is a century-old linen cloth that bears the image of a crucified man believed by many to be Jesus of Nazareth on the cloth, while some expert studies have claimed that the artifact is a medieval forgery.
Researchers concluded in their report that a more accurate X-ray probe of more samples taken from the fabric of the Shroud of Turin is needed to confirm the results of their study.