A new peer-reviewed analysis of fibers from the Shroud of Turin found biological traces consistent with the cloth having encountered the Near East and highly saline environments. Using advanced genetic sequencing on samples collected in 1978, Italian researchers identified the rare H33 maternal lineage, found today particularly among Druze populations in the Near East, as well as salt-loving microorganisms. However, the samples also showed extensive contamination from centuries of human handling, including DNA likely introduced by one of the researchers who collected the material.
The broader evidence makes the Shroud's history difficult to establish. Researchers found biological material associated with Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean and the Americas, including plants that reached Europe only after Columbus, suggesting that many traces accumulated relatively recently. No plants exclusive to the Levant were detected, and the researchers emphasized that neither the genetic nor the biological evidence can determine whether the Shroud originated in medieval Europe or approximately 2,000 years ago or prove that it wrapped the body of Jesus.