A Critical Reassessment of the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin

The 1988 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon measurements on a linen sample from the Shroud of Turin remain the most direct quantitative constraint on the tested material’s age, yet the results are frequently disputed on sampling, statistical, and contamination grounds. This paper reassesses the 1988 protocol and published measurements, synthesizes key objections and counterarguments, and updates the calendar calibration discussion using IntCal20. Figures summarize inter-laboratory means and uncertainty, calibrated calendar ranges, and order-of-magnitude constraints on contamination and heterogeneity scenarios. This is a preprint.