TITLE:
Skin Debris on the Face of the Turin Shroud: A SEM-EDX Analysis
AUTHORS:
Gérard Lucotte
KEYWORDS:
Turin Shroud, Face Area, Skin Debris, Optical Microscopy and SEM, EDX Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Archaeological Discovery,
Vol.4 No.2,
April
27,
2016
ABSTRACT: Aim: We have studied the only found three skin debris (P1, P2 and P3) deposited on the Face area of our sample of the Turin Shroud. Methods: P1, P2 and P3 were explored by optical microscopy, by SEM and by EDX analysis. Results: All P1, P2 and P3 are true skin debris, as observed in optic and electronic microscopy; their elementary compositions show organic matter, plus a sulphur peak that corresponds to keratin. P1, P2 and P3 are constituted of layers of corneocytes; in P3, which is certainly a human skin debris, we can observe both the epidermis and some residual dermis.