Mike, I cant swear to it, but I think that cleaning the material of any such contamination is part of the preparatory process in doing Carbon14 datings.
I know that I thought the same thing when I read of the early date since it just did not sync with the other facts known about the shroud at the time.
So, I cant blame you for saying that, but I dont think it is a valid concern.
I just noticed that I provided a bad link in the top post. It should be http://www.shroudstory.com
Dan
Here is more info:
http://www.historicaljesusquest.com/
If the Shroud of Turin is fake, then many centuries ago someone forged these pictures of Jesus on the cloth. With forensic science, we should be able to figure out how it was done. If the Shroud is the real burial cloth of Jesus, as many believe it is, then with a bit of CSI-style thinking we should be able to figure out how the pictures of Jesus came to be on this cloth?
Is it fair to call the images pictures of Jesus? If the Shroud of Turin is fake, then certainly the forger intended us to think of the images as pictures of Jesus. We can call them pictures of Jesus just as we do with any artistic picture of Jesus.
If the pictures are a natural phenomenon of science, as some scientists believe, or if they are miraculous pictures, then we are on safe ground calling them pictures of Jesus.
Until recently the prima facie CSI-like case for forgery seemed strong. Now, for the first time, we have new forensic science data. Much of it didn't come to light until 2004.
And because of this new information, the enigma of the pictures of Jesus on the Shroud of Turin becomes even more intriguing and perhaps more difficult to solve. The fan of CSI, the student of forensic science, and all of us should be challenged to try and figure out what is going on here.
Let's be clear. Let's be clear in forensic science and CSI terms. No one has figured out how these pictures came to be on the cloth; not if it was faked and not if it is real.
Let's also be clear in a forthright CSI way of thinking, the carbon 14 testing has been so challenged by modern forensic science (as recently reported by National Geographic News and PBS) that is fails the test of reasonable doubt. The honest CSI is left with no option but to admit that there is no evidence from forensic science that the cloth is medieval.