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Plyss
Skeptic Friend
Netherlands
231 Posts |
 Posted - 01/30/2005 : 09:35:53
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Found via God is for Suckers: The radiocarbon-dating on the SoT may be unreliable, as mentioned in this New York Times article. The original article appears here in the journal Thermochimica Acta.
Briefly, the area of the SoT that was dated via RC dating was unrepresentative of the entire Shroud. The shroud was repaired using newer material in 1532 after being damaged in a church fire and the RC dating was done on a piece of newer material. Kinetic analysis of the loss of vanillin from the sample seemingly indicates a much higher age for the shroud. The authors suggests new RC dating from several areas of the shroud to allow for better dating.
One remark on the method followed in the article: It relies on the loss of vanillin from the cloth, which is highly dependant on temperature. The author touches upon the possibility of the church-fire heating the cloth to such a high temperature that it throws off his measurements:
quote:
The fire of 1532 could not have greatly affected the vanillin content of lignin in all parts of the shroud equally. The thermal conductivity of linen is very low, 2.1 × 10#8722;4 cal cm#8722;1 s#8722;1 °C#8722;1; therefore, the unscorched parts of the folded cloth could not have become very hot. The temperature gradient through the cloth in the reliquary should have been very steep, and the cloth's center would not have heated at all in the time available. The rapid change in color from black to white at the margins of the scorches illustrates this fact.
Personally, i would not have allowed this to pass peer-review without substantiating these statements.
In addition the author remarks:
quote:
The major problem in estimating the age of the shroud is the fact that the rate law is exponential; i.e., the maximum diurnal temperature is much more important than is the lowest storage temperature. However, some reasonable storage temperatures can be considered to give a range of predicted ages. If the shroud had been stored at a constant 25 °C, it would have taken about 1319 years to lose a conservative 95% of its vanillin. At 23 °C, it would have taken about 1845 years. At 20 °C, it would take about 3095 years.
I feel the author should have checked how reasonable such temperatures are in a mediterranian climate and how higher peak-temperatures could have affected the vanillin concentration. Also, he could have consulted a historian on likely storage conditions for artifects like the shroud. Without such data it is my opinion that additional RC dating is premature.
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 09:50:27 [Permalink]
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Yes, I read of that the other day. I'm waiting on more information before I comment.
But even if the shroud is indeed of an age corresponding with the death of Jesus, so what? Like the James Ossuary, had it been genuine, it would actually prove little beyond it being a cloth made during that time period and was used as to wrap a badly abused corpse. But it would be interesting historically for that alone.
I seem to recall reading something about the image being made of various pigments. Now I wish I'd saved that article.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 09:53:29 [Permalink]
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http://skepdic.com/shroud.html
Here's a minor bit of info from the Skeptics Dictionary. Check near the bottom of the page under "Latest News". |
"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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