Progress in Radiocarbon Dating the Shroud of Turin

An account is presented of the current status of the project to radiocarbon date the cloth of the shroud of Turin. The procedures dictated by the Turin ecclesiastical authorities to accomplish this are discussed. It will be concluded that the original protocol, as agreed to by all parties at the Turin Workshop in 1986, suggested a preferable procedure. However, if the three laboratories, who accepted the task of dating the shroud, obtain the same age for the shroud and the three control samples within a standard deviation or two completely independently, most knowledgeable scientists will probably accept the results.