The Forensic Pathology of the Images on the Man on the Shroud of Turin

We see in the images of a man on the Shroud of Turin a pictorial testament to the passion story from the Gospels. We see indications of scourging and beating. We see the unmistakable wounds of crucifixion. Pathologists who have studied the image say that this is a man in rigor mortis: He is dead.

The man of the shroud was savagely flogged. Whatever was used, it is consistent with a Roman flagrum, a whip of short leather thongs tipped with bits of lead, bronze or bone which tore into flesh and muscle. There are dozens upon dozens of dumbbell shaped welts and contusions, the type of wound that the flagellum would have caused. There is blood from the flagellation within the imaged wounds. From the angles of attack – the way the marks fall on the man’s back, buttocks, and legs – it seems that man was whipped by two men, one taller than the other, who stood on either side of him.

At some time the man may have been forced to wear a crown of thorns. That seems to be a logical explanation for the numerous small puncture wounds about the top of his head. But from the wounds and many drops of blood, the crown seems to have been a rough bunch of thorns and not the wreath shaped crown of thorns so common in artistic depictions.

Many details on the shroud that suggest both a beating and falling: a severely bruised left kneecap, a dislocated nasal cartilage, a large swelling near the right eye socket and cheekbone.

It is particularly interesting is that the man of the Shroud was crucified with large spikes driven through his wrists rather that through the palms of his hands. This contradicts all iconography of medieval and pre-medieval periods. This is evidenced by both the image and the bloodstains.

Nailing a crucifixion victim through his wrists is more historically and medically plausible. Eearly in the 20th century, medical experts first realized that nails driven through a man’s palms would not support a his weight even if his feet were nailed or supported. The nails would tear out. The Romans did crucify victims by driving nails through the wrist area of the forearm has been confirmed by the 1968 archeological discovery of a crucifixion victim, named Johanan ben Ha-galgol, found near Jerusalem at Givat ha-Mivtar.

The bloodstains that accompany the images of wounds are from real human blood. The stains are from real human bleeding, from real wounds on a real human body, that came into direct contact with the cloth.

Bloodstain Observations

How We Know that the Blood is Real Human Blood

Why Old Blood on the Shroud Did Not Turn Black