Three earlier papers on the Shroud of Turin showed that ultraviolet induced fluorescence (UVIF) intensity is non-uniform over the surface of the Shroud. These intensity results were based on an analysis of UVIF photographic images taken in 1978 as part of a scientific investigation of the Shroud. In this paper the statistical technique, principal component analysis (PCA), is used to analyze the information present in the UVIF images. It is shown that the vast majority of information in the UVIF Shroud images is contained in their International Commission on Illumination (CIE Lab) image intensity. Differences in UVIF intensity indicate differences in the Shroud’s molecular properties. Such differences can be due to differences in molecular structure, contamination, and burned regions. Fluorescence spectral results published as part of the same 1978 scientific study confirm the intensity variation with position of the UVIF images. These spectral fluorescence results are discussed in detail. The combined photographs and spectral results demonstrate that color contributes relatively little to the information in the UVIF images. One possible cause of the variation of UVIF intensity, namely neutron radiation, is briefly discussed. Charred Shroud material, collected during its cleaning in 2002, can be used to assess whether the Shroud was exposed to neutron radiation. Such testing would be completely non-destructive to the Shroud. New UVIF photographs need to be taken to validate the results discussed in this paper.
| Published in | International Journal of Archaeology (Volume 12, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15 |
| Page(s) | 58-67 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Shroud, Ultraviolet, Fluorescence Intensity, Information, Molecular Properties
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| [2] | Miller V., Pellicori S. ‘Ultraviolet fluorescence photography of the Shroud of Turin’, Journal of Biological Photography (1981) 49, 71-85. |
| [3] | McAvoy T. ‘Shroud of Turin ultraviolet light: color and information content’, Appl. Opt. (2021) 22, 6604-6613. |
| [4] | CIE L*a*b Color Space, |
| [5] | McAvoy T. ‘Analysis of UV photographs of the Shroud of Turin’, Appl. Opt. (2019) 58, 6958-6965. |
| [6] | I. Jolliffe and J. Cadima, ‘Principal component analysis: a review and recent developments’, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A (2016) 374, 2065. |
| [7] | Gilbert, R., Gilbert, M. ‘Ultraviolet-visible reflectance and fluorescence spectra of the Shroud of Turin’, App l. Opt. (1980) 19, page 1930-1936. |
| [8] | Schwable, L., Pellicori, S. ‘Analysis of photoelectric colorimetry and fluorimetry of the Turin Shroud’, Int. J. Archaeology (2023) 11, 1-8. |
| [9] | CIE color calculator, |
| [10] | HSL and HSV color spaces, |
| [11] | Convert RGB to a histogram, |
| [12] | Fanti, G., ‘New insights on blood evidence from the Turin Shroud consistent with Jesus Christ’s tortures’, Archives of Hematology Case Reports and Reviews (2024) 9, 1-15. |
| [13] | Rucker, R. ‘The carbon dating problem for the Shroud of Turin, Part 3: The neutron absorption hypothesis’, |
| [14] | McAvoy, T. ‘On radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin, Int. J. Archaeology (2021) 9, 34-44. |
| [15] | Barta, C., Personal communication. |
| [16] |
Cleaning of Shroud of Turin,
https://www.shroud.com/history.htm#2000 (June 20 - July 22, 2002). |
APA Style
McAvoy, T. (2024). Information in the Shroud of Turin About Its Variable Molecular Properties. International Journal of Archaeology, 12(2), 58-67. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15
ACS Style
McAvoy, T. Information in the Shroud of Turin About Its Variable Molecular Properties. Int. J. Archaeol. 2024, 12(2), 58-67. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15,
author = {Thomas McAvoy},
title = {Information in the Shroud of Turin About Its Variable Molecular Properties
},
journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
volume = {12},
number = {2},
pages = {58-67},
doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20241202.15},
abstract = {Three earlier papers on the Shroud of Turin showed that ultraviolet induced fluorescence (UVIF) intensity is non-uniform over the surface of the Shroud. These intensity results were based on an analysis of UVIF photographic images taken in 1978 as part of a scientific investigation of the Shroud. In this paper the statistical technique, principal component analysis (PCA), is used to analyze the information present in the UVIF images. It is shown that the vast majority of information in the UVIF Shroud images is contained in their International Commission on Illumination (CIE Lab) image intensity. Differences in UVIF intensity indicate differences in the Shroud’s molecular properties. Such differences can be due to differences in molecular structure, contamination, and burned regions. Fluorescence spectral results published as part of the same 1978 scientific study confirm the intensity variation with position of the UVIF images. These spectral fluorescence results are discussed in detail. The combined photographs and spectral results demonstrate that color contributes relatively little to the information in the UVIF images. One possible cause of the variation of UVIF intensity, namely neutron radiation, is briefly discussed. Charred Shroud material, collected during its cleaning in 2002, can be used to assess whether the Shroud was exposed to neutron radiation. Such testing would be completely non-destructive to the Shroud. New UVIF photographs need to be taken to validate the results discussed in this paper.
},
year = {2024}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Information in the Shroud of Turin About Its Variable Molecular Properties AU - Thomas McAvoy Y1 - 2024/11/26 PY - 2024 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15 T2 - International Journal of Archaeology JF - International Journal of Archaeology JO - International Journal of Archaeology SP - 58 EP - 67 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-7595 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20241202.15 AB - Three earlier papers on the Shroud of Turin showed that ultraviolet induced fluorescence (UVIF) intensity is non-uniform over the surface of the Shroud. These intensity results were based on an analysis of UVIF photographic images taken in 1978 as part of a scientific investigation of the Shroud. In this paper the statistical technique, principal component analysis (PCA), is used to analyze the information present in the UVIF images. It is shown that the vast majority of information in the UVIF Shroud images is contained in their International Commission on Illumination (CIE Lab) image intensity. Differences in UVIF intensity indicate differences in the Shroud’s molecular properties. Such differences can be due to differences in molecular structure, contamination, and burned regions. Fluorescence spectral results published as part of the same 1978 scientific study confirm the intensity variation with position of the UVIF images. These spectral fluorescence results are discussed in detail. The combined photographs and spectral results demonstrate that color contributes relatively little to the information in the UVIF images. One possible cause of the variation of UVIF intensity, namely neutron radiation, is briefly discussed. Charred Shroud material, collected during its cleaning in 2002, can be used to assess whether the Shroud was exposed to neutron radiation. Such testing would be completely non-destructive to the Shroud. New UVIF photographs need to be taken to validate the results discussed in this paper. VL - 12 IS - 2 ER -
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, The United States
