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Comment on Wikipedia Text: bacterial residue
. . . in referece to the wikipedia text,
bacterial residue
There is simply no reason in an encyclopedia entry to state: "The argument involving bacterial residue is perhaps the strongest . . ." (emphasis mine). The example given is circumstantial. There is absolutely no peer-reviewed science in support of the claim. since there are many examples of ancient textiles that have been grossly misdated, especially in the earliest days of radiocarbon testing. Most notable of these is mummy 1770 of the British Museum, whose bones were dated some 800-1000 years earlier than its cloth wrappings. Proponents also point out that the corner used for the dating would have been handled more often than other parts of the shroud, increasing the likelihood of contamination by bacteria and bacterial residue. Bacteria and associated residue (bacteria by-products and dead bacteria) carry additional carbon and would skew the radiocarbon date toward the present.
In fact, peer-reviewed journal articles make it clear that this is not a viable explanation. The following paragraph in the Wikipedia text makes it clear why not. it is incorrect to imply only that skeptics reject this idea. Most everyone who supports authenticity of the shroud, rejects this explanation.
Skeptics [but not just skeptics], including Rodger Sparks, a radiocarbon expert from New Zealand, have countered that an error of thirteen centuries stemming from bacterial contamination in the Middle Ages would have required a layer approximately doubling the sample weight. Because such material could be easily detected, fibers from the Shroud were examined at the National Science Foundation Mass Spectrometry Center of Excellence at the University of Nebraska. Pyrolysis-mass-spectrometry examination failed to detect any form of bioplastic polymer on fibers from either non-image or image areas of the shroud. Additionally, laser-microprobe Raman analysis at Instruments SA, Inc. in Metuchen, NJ, also failed to detect any bioplastic polymer on shroud fibers.
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