Blood on the shroud is type AB, rare in Europeans but common in Middle East. Carbon dating says medieval, but pollen and textile analysis suggest ancient origin.
Secundo Pia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The blood of the shroud
Scientific analyses of the reddish stains on the Shroud of Turin show they are human blood. In the early 1980s, researchers identified the blood as type AB. This blood type is uncommon, found in only about 3-5% of the world's population. Its distribution is geographically specific. While relatively rare among modern Europeans, it is more frequently found in populations from the Middle East.
Analysis of the bloodstains revealed other specific biological markers. Tests confirmed the presence of hemoglobin and serum albumin, components expected in real blood. The blood contains high concentrations of bilirubin, a yellowish pigment produced during the breakdown of red blood cells. Elevated bilirubin levels can occur in response to severe physical trauma. Some researchers propose this high bilirubin content could explain why the bloodstains have retained a reddish color over centuries, rather than turning the typical dark brown of old, dried blood. DNA analysis of dust particles from the shroud has also identified human genetic material with origins in the Near East and India.
A chronological contradiction
The scientific data is complex and sometimes conflicting picture. In 1988, three independent laboratories performed radiocarbon dating on a small sample cut from the edge of the shroud. The results were consistent across the labs, yielding a date range of 1260–1390 AD for the linen's origin. This places the cloth squarely in the Middle Ages, coinciding with its first undisputed historical appearance in Lirey, France, around 1355.
Other lines of physical evidence challenge the medieval dating. The linen itself is a high-quality, 3:1 herringbone twill weave. While some textile experts argue this type of loom was not common until the medieval period, others note that similar complex weaves have been found in first-century contexts, such as at the Masada fortress in Israel.
Microscopic analysis of dust and fibers taken from the shroud's surface reveals a collection of ancient pollen grains. In the 1970s, Swiss criminologist Max Frei identified pollen from 58 different plant species. Many of these pollens are from plants native to Europe, but a significant number belong to species endemic to the Middle East, including some found almost exclusively in the region around Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The combination of blood type, pollen evidence, and textile characteristics fuels scientific debate about the shroud's true age and geographic history.
💡Fun Facts
The blood stains also appear on the cloth before the body image was formed.
The 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) team, composed of over 20 scientists, spent 120 hours conducting non-destructive tests on the cloth.
The image of the man on the shroud has three-dimensional properties, unlike a typical painting or photograph. A VP-8 Image Analyzer revealed that the image intensity encodes distance information.
The blood type AB found on the Shroud of Turin is the same blood type found on another relic, the Sudarium of Oviedo, a cloth believed to have covered the face of Jesus after death.
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is generally open daily from around 7:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, though hours can vary. The Shroud itself is not on regular display. Public exhibitions are rare, occurring only on special occasions authorized by the Pope, with the last being in 2015.
Admission
Free to enter the Cathedral. Viewing the Shroud during a public exposition requires booking a free ticket in advance.
Accessibility
The Cathedral is wheelchair accessible. The surrounding piazza is paved.
