Unexpected food DNA found on cloth believed to have wrapped Jesus, study reveals
New York Post • • world
Key Points:
- Researchers analyzed DNA traces from dust and fibers on the Shroud of Turin, identifying various plant and food species, including carrot, bread wheat, tomatoes, maize, and peanuts, suggesting contamination over time.
- The presence of New World crops like tomatoes, maize, and peanuts indicates some contamination likely occurred after 1492, postdating the Shroud's supposed original use.
- The study concluded that metagenomic analysis cannot definitively date the Shroud, leaving its age uncertain and unable to confirm either a medieval or ancient origin.
- Findings provide new insights into the Shroud's preservation history and the biological traces left by centuries of social and ecological interactions, though final results have yet to be published.
- The Shroud, housed in Turin since 1578, has been radiocarbon dated to the 13th-14th centuries, but recent analyses using X-ray scattering have suggested a possible age closer to 2,000 years, consistent with Christian tradition.
