Home›Open Questions›Would a radiocarbon assay of the Sudarium of Oviedo on a decontaminated sample give a different age from the seventh century AD result already published?Open QuestionsWould a radiocarbon assay of the Sudarium of Oviedo on a decontaminated sample give a different age from the seventh century AD result already published?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Would a radiocarbon assay of the Sudarium of Oviedo on a decontaminated sample give a different age from the seventh century AD result already published?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/would-a-radiocarbon-assay-of-the-sudarium-of-oviedo-on-a-decontaminated-sample-give-a-different-age-from-the-seventh-century-ad-result-already-published.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Would a radiocarbon assay of the Sudarium of Oviedo on a decontaminated sample give a different age from the seventh century AD result already published?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/would-a-radiocarbon-assay-of-the-sudarium-of-oviedo-on-a-decontaminated-sample-give-a-different-age-from-the-seventh-century-ad-result-already-publishedCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-would-a-radiocarbon-assay-of-the-sudariu, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Would a radiocarbon assay of the Sudarium of Oviedo on a decontaminated sample give a different age from the seventh century AD result already published?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/would-a-radiocarbon-assay-of-the-sudarium-of-oviedo-on-a-decontaminated-sample-give-a-different-age-from-the-seventh-century-ad-result-already-published}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionThe published assay came with the laboratory's own caveat that oils absorbed over centuries of veneration could distort the measured age, and that caveat was never tested. No scholar holds a position on what a clean measurement would show, so this is a gap rather than a disagreement: the work was started, it reached no conclusion, and nobody resumed it.What would resolve this A repeat assay on material cleaned by a published decontamination protocol, run blind across more than one laboratory, with the sampling location on the cloth recorded. Independent characterisation of the absorbed organic contaminants would show how large a shift they are capable of producing, which is the part the original caveat left unquantified.OpenRadiocarbon dating and archaeometry, with textile conservation science for the decontamination protocol.Mark Guscin, The Oviedo ClothCross-Tradition ConnectionsDiscipline NeededArchaeometry, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source The Oviedo ClothMark Guscintier 2Radiocarbon Dating, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source The Oviedo ClothMark Guscintier 2Textile Conservation Science, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source The Oviedo ClothMark Guscintier 2Question OnRadiocarbon Dating of the Sudarium of Oviedo, Studies Well-attested Source The Oviedo ClothMark Guscintier 2SourcesThe Oviedo Clothtier 2Mark Guscin, Lutterworth Press, 1998View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year