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Nature 337, 611-615 (16 February 1989) | doi:10.1038/337611a0; Received 5 December 1988; Accepted 18 January 1989

Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin

P. E. Damon*, D. J. Donahue†, B. H. Gore*, A. L. Hatheway†, A. J. T. Jull*, T. W. Linick†, P. J. Sercel†, L. J. Toolin*, C. R. Bronk‡, E. T. Hall‡, R. E. M. Hedges‡, R. Housley‡, I. A. Law‡, C. Perry‡, G. Bonani§, S. Trumbore parallel£, W. Woelfli§, J. C. Ambers, S. G. E. Bowman, M. N. Leese & M. S. Tite

  1. *Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
  2. †Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
  3. ‡Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QJ, UK
  4. §Institut für Mittelenergiephysik, ETH-H&0uml;nggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
  5. parallelLament-Doherty Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964, USA
  6. Research Laboratory, British Museum, London, WC1B3DG, UK
  7. £Present address: Institut für Mittelenergiephysik, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
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Very small samples from the Shroud of Turin have been dated by accelerator mass spectrometry in laboratories at Arizona, Oxford and Zurich. As controls, three samples whose ages had been determined independently were also dated. The results provide conclusive evidence that the linen of the Shroud of Turin is mediaeval.