JERUSALEM -- Plant imprints and pollen found on the Shroud of Turin, revered by many as Jesus' burial shroud, support the premise that it originated in the Holy Land, two Israeli scientists said Tuesday.
"In the light of our findings, it is highly probable that the shroud did in fact come from this part of the world," said Avinoam Danin, a botany professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The botanists did not address the issue of the age of the linen cloth, which was brought to France by a 14th-century crusader and has been enshrined since 1578 in a cathedral in Turin, Italy. About 13 feet long and 3 feet wide, it bears the image of a man with wounds similar to those suffered by Jesus.
In 1988, scientists tested scraps of the shroud with Vatican approval and concluded it dated back to between 1260 and 1390. They can't explain how the image was made, and some experts have said contamination might have affected the carbon-14 dating tests.
The shroud also includes the images of some plants, and Danin identified one as the bean caper (Zygophyllum dumosum), which he said grows only in Israel, Jordan and Egypt's Sinai desert.
Two other plants whose images were found on the shroud were the Rock Rose (Cistus creticus) which grows throughout the Middle East; and the Goundelia tournefortii tumbleweed, believed by some Christians to be the material of the crown of thorns.
Traces of pollen taken from the shroud are from plants found in Israel and neighboring countries, including the bean caper and the tumbleweed appearing on the shroud, according to Uri Baruch, an expert on pollen at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Danin and Baruch both refused to discuss the authenticity of the shroud but said their findings show that it was very probably from the Holy Land.
The Roman Catholic Church has never claimed the cloth as a holy relic, but it has attracted pilgrims to Turin since the Middle Ages.
The shroud went on display in a bulletproof case for several weeks last year and will next go on view in 2000 for Holy Year celebrations.