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When was the linen of the Shroud made?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·4 answers·0·0 following
Answered: The linen was made between about AD 1260 and 1390, as the 1988 radiocarbon dating found.Passed its tests and review.

Where it stands

Four answers have been proposed. The linen was made between about AD 1260 and 1390, as the 1988 radiocarbon dating found. leads, with evidence 4 for, 1 against: supported by its tests. Three are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.

Why it matters

A medieval date makes the cloth a medieval object whatever the image is; an ancient date reopens everything. The 1988 radiocarbon result is the consensus, and its critics have concentrated on the sample and the statistics⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 4

Evidence: 4 for, 1 against
Most likely
None of these.
Failed a test; not refuted outright
Evidence: none yet
Disputed
Evidence: 1 for, 1 against
Disputed
Evidence: 2 for, 1 against
Disputed

History

  1. Damon et al. puts forward: the linen was made between about AD 1260 and 1390, as the 1988 radiocarbon dating found.
  2. Damon et al.: three laboratories, with controls, gave AD 1260-1390 at 95% confidence.For: The linen was made between about AD 1260 and 1390, as the 1988 radiocarbon dating found.
  3. Rogers puts forward: the 1988 sample came from a medieval repair woven into an older cloth.
  4. Rogers: threads said to be from the corner contained cotton and a dye.For: The 1988 sample came from a medieval repair woven into an older cloth.
  5. Freer-Waters & Jull: a piece of the Arizona sample shows no dye, coating or sign of not being main cloth.For: The linen was made between about AD 1260 and 1390, as the 1988 radiocarbon dating found.
  6. Walsh & Schwalbe: the raw Shroud measurements are heterogeneous where the controls are not.Against: The linen was made between about AD 1260 and 1390, as the 1988 radiocarbon dating found.
  7. De Caro et al. puts forward: the linen is about 2,000 years old and the radiocarbon date is wrong through contamination or flawed…
  8. De Caro et al.: wAXS of a thread matches a first-century Masada linen.For: The linen is about 2,000 years old and the radiocarbon date is wrong through contamination or flawed…
  9. Sarzeaud: the cloth first appears in fourteenth-century Champagne and is criticised there as a false relic.For: The linen was made between about AD 1260 and 1390, as the 1988 radiocarbon dating found.
  10. Freer-Waters & Jull: two further Arizona fragments are flax consistent with the main body, with no cotton or contamination.For: The linen was made between about AD 1260 and 1390, as the 1988 radiocarbon dating found.
  11. Freer-Waters & Jull: dated Arizona fragments show no dye, coating or cotton.Against: The 1988 sample came from a medieval repair woven into an older cloth.
  12. Freer-Waters & Jull: textile tests of the dated threads find the main cloth.Against: The linen is about 2,000 years old and the radiocarbon date is wrong through contamination or flawed…
  13. Asked on this site
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