THE TURIN SHROUD dates from the seventh century AD, an international group of 35 experts claimed this week. It was almost certainly used together with another sheet of the same age known as the Toledo Shroud, they claimed, to wrap the same body.
The experts, including British, American, Italian and Spanish scientists, announced their conclusion during a two day conference in Valencia, Spain.
They said that they'd reached their verdict after careful inspection of the Toledo Shroud, which has bloodstains which coincide with those on the Holy Shroud of Turin, and which belong to the same AB blood group.
As with the Turin Shroud, the Toledo Shroud also contains traces of myrrh and aloe. Both substances were used exclusively by the Jews in their funeral rites during the period.
The experts said that it was now 90 per cent certain that the two shrouds once wrapped the same body, a theory first put forward 15 years ago by Mgr Giuseppe Ricci.