Shroud of Turin and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Real or fake?

Radiocarbon dating, which is also known as carbon-14 dating, is a specific archaeological dating technique that is used to determine the age of organic materials up to 50,000 years old.

It was developed in the 1940s by American chemist Willard Libby. The method is based on the fact that living organisms contain a certain amount of carbon-14: a radioactive isotope that decays at a known rate after death.

So, by measuring the remaining amount of carbon-14 in a sample, scientists can estimate the amount of time that has elapsed since the organism died, providing a crucial tool for historians and archaeologists in piecing together ancient timelines.

This was so groundbreaking that Libby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960 for his development of the radiocarbon dating method. 

Then, in the 1970s, Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) revolutionized radiocarbon dating by allowing precise measurements from smaller samples.

Since its development, radiocarbon dating has been used to date countless artifacts and archaeological sites.

One notable application of this technique was in dating the Dead Sea Scrolls.

These scrolls are a collection of ancient Jewish texts that were discovered between 1947 and 1956 by Bedouin shepherds and archaeologists in eleven caves near the ancient settlement of Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. 

The initial discovery was made by a young Bedouin shepherd named Muhammed edh-Dhib, who stumbled upon the first cave while searching for a lost goat.

In total, there were over 900 manuscripts discovered in the various caves, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, apocryphal works, and administration documents.

The first cave discovered held some of the most intact and important scrolls, including a complete copy of the Book of Isaiah from the Bible. 

Cave 4 at Qumran yielded the largest cache of scroll fragments. Over 15,000 pieces from approximately 500 different manuscripts were found there.

At the time of their discovery, it was believed to have been written between the 2nd century BCE and the 1st century CE.

If true, they would be some of the oldest surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish writings.

The first radiocarbon dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls was carried out in the early 1990s.

This was a significant project which involved the dating of 14 scroll fragments.

The results of the tests confirmed that the scrolls were indeed ancient and originated between the 3rd century BCE and the 1st century CE.

Many scholars believe that the scrolls were linked to a Jewish sect known as the Essenes, who lived in Qumran and practiced a communal lifestyle with strict religious observances.

This revelation helped to establish the historical significance of the scrolls. As a result, the information contained in them helped scholars understand the development and transmission of these sacred texts.

Perhaps the most famous use of radiocarbon dating was in attempting to date the Shroud of Turin.

This incredibly famous piece of cloth is believed by many Christians to be the actual burial shroud of Jesus Christ that was used after his crucifixion.

It first appeared in historical records in the 1350s when it was displayed in a church in Lirey, France, by a French knight named Geoffroi de Charny.

It was then owned by the House of Savoy, Italy's former royal family, for centuries before being donated to the Vatican in 1983.

Now, the shroud is kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

However, it has been the subject of an increasing amount controversy because, in 1898, an Italian photographer, Secondo Pia, took the first photographs of the shroud.

The negatives of the images he produced reveal an image of a bearded man on the cloth.

This led some people to be convinced that it was a legitimate artefact of Jesus Christ. Others claim that it is actually a medieval forgery.

Since then, there have been a number of scientific tests, including infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet fluorescence, and x-ray analysis, conducted on the shroud to study its composition and the mysterious nature of the image.

To help resolve this issue, there were repeated calls to date the shroud using radiocarbon dating.

The first and the most notable occurred in 1988. The study at this time was conducted by three laboratories - the University of Oxford in the UK, the University of Arizona in the USA, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich - all using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) techniques.

When the results were finally released, they indicated all agreed that the shroud dated to the 13th or 14th century, specifically between 1260 and 1390 AD.

This was a significant discrepancy from the 1st century AD that would be required if it really was from the time of Jesus.

As a result, many became convinced that it was indeed a medieval forgery.

However, things are rarely that simple in archaeology. These findings have been contested by some scholars.

They have argued that the specific samples that were tested were not representative of the entire cloth.

They point out that the shroud suffered significant damage in a fire in 1532, which caused burn marks and water stains.

It led some to suggest that the heat exposure could have altered the carbon content and affected radiocarbon dating results.

Others claim that the parts the samples came from are from pieces of material that were used to repair the shroud during the Middle Ages.

As a result, the samples were 'contaminated' and do not tell us the original date of the shroud.

In addition, pollen grains found on the shroud have also been analyzed, with some researchers claiming they originate from plants native to the Jerusalem area, which supported the idea of its Middle Eastern origin.

Therefore, researchers have proposed alternate dating methods for the shroud, such as analyzing the decay of vanillin in the linen fibers, which might indicate a much older age.

Today, the Shroud of Turin is rarely displayed to the public; one of its most recent exhibitions was in 2015, which attracted millions of pilgrims and visitors to Turin.

As such, the authenticity of the shroud still remains a topic of debate among scholars.