But the mustache didn't go away with filtering.
Dan
But the mustache didn't go away with filtering.
Dan
I have often wondered why the moustache on the shroud is so pronounced. The color density of the image is quite high in the moustache, more so that almost every other part of the image.
I have a moustache and mine is far below the tip of my nose. My moustache lies 2 cm below the tip of my nose, which, on the shroud, is halfway to the point of image disappearance. A cloth draped over my face would hit the tip of my nose and span to my chin... never touching my moustache except on the extreme ends above the corners of my mouth. Yet on the facial image on the shroud, the moustache density is equal to or greater than the tip of the nose which was probably touching the shroud.
WHAT IF what we thought was a moustache is merely the pattern showing the flow of gases constantly escaping from the nostrils???
If it is, then the greater density in the image in this area would be expected.
Let's do a little thought experiment on this.
The latest scientific opinion on image formation is that gases from the natural processes of putrefaction emitted by a dead body (Putrecine and Cadaverine) combined with the sacharides and starch fractions left on the Linen by the retting process chemically created the image by way of a maillard reaction.
If this is true, there would be some areas of vapor ourflow where the gases would be stronger than elsewere. It strikes me that one of these would be through the nostrils. The large area of the dead lungs ( ~100 M2) would provide a natural fermentation area for putrecine and cadaverine to be generated and/or escape from the body. The lungs are have 50 times more area than the skin.
These gases would then find the natural passageway to escape through the nostrils, slowly seeping out as more and more putrecine and cadaverine are fermented. These gases escaping through the nostrils in a higher concentration than through the skin or other bodily openings (the mouth is strapped shut) would show up as a darker area on the shroud because of the higher concentrantration of gases mixing with starches and sacharides in the Maillard reaction. This darker area would be mistakenly interpreted to be a body part... or a moustache.
Perhaps there IS NO MOUSTACHE on the Shroud! The appearance of a moustache is an artifact of the modality of image formation!
It also may explain one other inexplicable thing about the shroud... the higher detail of the facial image compared to the rest of the body. This higher detail has been one of the reasons some have postulated the face was a photograph taken apart from the body images and composited on the shroud later. However, if the greater amounts of outgasing putrecine and cadaverine from the lungs through the nostrils, were more prevalent in this area (a natural consequence of this thought experiment) then the higher detail would be expected.
It would be interesting to see if any threads from the moustache area are available for examination. I would expect, if my theory is true, to find that MORE of the fibers are involved and that the involved fibers would appear deeper in the thread.
Shroudie, in your filtered pictures (by the way, excellent work), the moustache has changed shape from the original which is much more rectilinear... and as you noted, the nose is more natural looking (to my eye, less flattened with a much more pronounced septum)... but of importance to my thought experiment, there is a distinct V shaped division between the nostrils and the moustache. This may be a product of the gas flow. The prominence of the bifurcated beard below may also be a product of these gases being captured in the beard on either side with less concentration making its way to the middle...
A consequence of considering natural openings providing egress for putrefaction gases requires us to consider the other natural bodily openings. The mouth as I noted was strapped shut. That leaves us with the anus and the urethra. It has been noted that the hands share, with the face image a noticable greater detail than the rest of the body. The hands are crossed over the crotch. It is possible this greater hand/wrist detail is also due to the greater concentrations of these gases because of the close proximity of the anus and penile opening.
Another thought... are cadaverine and putrecine heavier than air?
What do you think???