The Antioch Hypothesis 1

In a podcast on 22 June 2024, Jack Markwardt set out the evidence for his “Antioch” hypothesis, as regards primary sources dated from 30 – 500 AD.1 I had the honour of being a participant, and occasional commenter, but I have to confess that some of the primary sources were unfamiliar to me, and on […]

Isotopes

In general, the chemical elements appear on earth with atoms of the same weight – with the same number of protons and neutrons in their nuclei. Carbon is mostly Carbon-12, Oxygen is mostly Oxygen-16, and Hydrogen is mostly Hydrogen-1. However, as we know only too well from radiocarbon dating exercises, atoms of different weights also […]

R.I.P. Barrie Schwortz

In 2019, as part of the Post-Graduate Certificate in Shroud Studies, I listed the founding of shroud.com as the first of my three “most important events in Sindonology since 1981,” and the death of its founder, Barrie Schwortz, on 21 June, has plunged its future, and the future of Shroud Studies in general, into serious […]

Analysing the UV photos

[After this article was posted, Tom McAvoy was kind enough to respond, and a lively, detailed correspondence ensued. A résumé is included at the end of this original post, so please make sure you read the whole thing to get the full balance of opinion on the subject.] In a recent paper in Applied Optics,1 […]

Ecce Homo

“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see.So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” William Shakespeare, Sonnet XVIII It is Easter weekend. Yesterday we commemorated the death of a man called Jesus two thousand years ago, his deposition in a cave tomb, and his envelopment in a cloth of fine […]

Sewers and Cesspits

I have been inspired to revisit the question of pollen on the Shroud of Turin by the publication of two interesting papers, analysing some pollen assemblages of First Century Jerusalem and Medieval Europe respectively. 1 The title of this article relates to the location of these assemblies, a town drain running roughly from the Temple […]

“Call me Crurifragius!”

Muddlehead: I wish my master was dead!Eyebald: Then why not do something about it?Muddlehead: I wouldn’t mind.Eyebald: Tell me how.Muddlehead: You couldn’t keep it secret.Eyebald: My lips are zipped.Muddlehead: I know you too well.Eyebald: No, honestly, trust me.Muddlehead: Only as far as I can throw you.Eyebald: All right, listen. You know my master hates yours?Muddlehead: […]