It is my opinion that no signs of postmortem decomposition appear on the Shroud image and that there appears clear evidence that the body was in a state of rigor mortis when placed in the Shroud.
https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/ssi14part3.pdf
The man on the shroud shows no obvious evidence of postmortem decomposition. The problem, however, becomes more acute when one tries to explain how the man got out of the cloth within 48 to 72 hours without smearing or altering the blood stains which had soaked into the linen fibers and transferred accurately and correctly the configurations of the blood flow .
https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi … ontext=lnq
There is, however, no evidence of initial decomposition of the body, no issue of fluids from the orifices, and no decline of rigor mortis leading to flattening of the back and blurred or double imprints.
https://www.shroud.com/meacham2.htm
medical forensic analysis that reveals a body in a state of rigor mortis with no signs of decomposition and bloodstains that show no smearing or pulling apart as would be the case if a body were unwrapped while removing it.
https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/porter1.pdf
https://debatingchristianity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1107205&hilit=decomposition#p1107205
JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 2:13 pm If such is the case, then we can dismiss an artist’s involvement. That still doesn’t get us to “God did it”.
If the TS is not artwork of any kind, then it involved an actual body. There are three possible scenarios that I can think of involving a body:
1) a medieval forger used a body to create a shroud that looks like the body of Jesus
2) it was a burial shroud of a crucified person and it somehow left an image, but it was not Jesus
3) it was the burial shroud of Jesus Christ
For #1, why would a forger even go through all that trouble? Who did he scourge and crucify? How did he get away with doing that without anybody else noticing a missing person? Wouldn’t it be much simpler to create a painting than to go through the trouble of murdering someone?
For #1 and #2, it still doesn’t explain how the body image and blood stains were formed. How would a medieval forger be able to create effects centuries before their invention (photography, x-ray, 3-D imaging, etc) by using a dead body? Do we even know how to do that? If someone was crucified and wrapped in a cloth, what natural process could’ve created the image on the linen?
Here’s a paper on stages of a decomposing body:
Over the course of one year, the cadavers of six unembalmed, unautopsied
individuals were dressed in clothing and placed at the Anthropology Research Facility to decompose naturally.Early postmortem changes are observable by the pathologist through the
processes of rigor mortis, algor mortis, and livor mortis. These are first observed
approximately two to four hours after death (Gonzales et al. 1954). Rigor mortis is
the stiffening and release ofthe muscles. Rigor typically presents during the first
three hours after death and is fully developed after approximately 10-12 hours. It
remains for 24 to 36 hours, on average, and then dissipates (Dix and Graham 2000).Livor mortis is the phenomenon of postmortem blood pooling. Due to
circulatory stasis, soon after death gravity begins to gradually take affect on blood in
the body. This results in pooling of blood in the capillary beds of dependent regions
ofthe body (perper 1993). It is noticeable within about an hour postmortem and is
fixed within 8 to 12 hours. At this point, if the body is moved, “staining” or
“blanching” will remain intact at contact areas rather than move to a new area.Destruction of body tissue occurs through the processes of autolysis,
putrefaction, and decay. Putrefaction is the anaerobic degradation of body tissue,
while decay is aerobic (Micozzi 1991). The early stages of putrefaction begin with
autolysis. Autolysis is the process of cell death by intra and extracellular enzymes.As gas pressure within the body rises, tissues are distorted. The eyes begin to bulge,
blisters or bullae form on the skin and burst, and the entire body increases in size
(Marks and Love 2000). Eventually, these gases are released either through the
orifices, through tissue ruptured by gaseous pressure, or by carnivores. After the
gases dissipate the abdominal cavity caves in and the internal organs begin to
liquefy.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcon … 1&referer=
(Warning: paper contains graphic images)
We see on the TS an image of a body that has only been in the stage of rigor mortis, but no futher. There is no evidence of any decomposition on the TS. So, somehow the body image was created while the body was in rigor mortis and not afterwards.
When a body decomposes, it would just leave a giant stain. (Warning: following links contains graphic images)
This is an extremely sad abandoned house that I explored where an elderly woman died alone and a body stain has been left where she fell.
Viewer discretion is advised, if the sight of a body stain will upset you, please be warned.
https://freaktography.com/sad-abandoned … ody-stain/
On the concrete floor of an abandoned mental hospital known as The Ridges, there is a stain in the shape of a human body. The stain marks the spot where a patient, a woman named Margaret Schilling, died, after lying undiscovered for several weeks. The stain was created in 1979 and has drawn much speculation as well as curious visitors. Forensic scientists recently tested the stain and determined it was caused by human decomposition.
In one of these rooms on the top floor of the hospital, remains the vestige of Margaret Schilling. She was a patient found dead in this room in 1979. On the floor is a large stain, in the shape of a human body, where she was found.
https://www.historicmysteries.com/margaret-schilling/
So, we can rule out #2 since the shroud is not just a giant stain of a decomposed body, but the image of a body in rigor mortis.
This leaves option #3 as the only other possible scenario.
The signs of rigor mortis also rules out Jesus was not dead when he was wrapped with the shroud.
If Jesus died and the image on the TS shows his death only went to the stage of rigor mortis, then what can we deduce from that?
https://debatingchristianity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1108747#p1108747