Beyond Imagination: Evidence of Rigor Mortis and Cadaveric Spasm on the Shroud of Turin

Abstract
This paper will examine how inconspicuous details in the body images on the shroud of turin indicate that a crucified man is depicted who is in a state of cadaveric spasm and rigor mortis. Moreover, the precise positioning of the body indicates that death, cadaveric spasm and rigor mortis all occurred while the man was still nailed upright to a cross with his arms stretched outward and at an upward angle. Additionally, since the shroud is said to be the burial cloth of jesus of nazareth, evidence is presented that proves that, in general, rigor mortis and cadaveric spasm are capable of being sustained for 39 hours (the approximate maximum amount of time that jesus was dead according to the gospels) or longer.

Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus healed him so that he could speak and see. All the crowds were amazed and said, “could this one be the son of david?” But when the pharisees heard this they said, “he does not cast out demons except by the power of beelzebul, the ruler of demons!”

In the babylonian talmud, jesus is said to have practiced sorcery and enticed israel to apostasy⁵⁴.

Crowned: john 19:2-3 reports how the soldiers mocked jesus as the “king of the jews” by putting a crown of thorns on his head and putting him in a purple robe to signify royalty as they then mocked him, over and over again saying, “hail, king of the jews!” As they repeatedly struck him in the face.

The original latin used for the translated word “miraculous” is “mirabilium” which, in latin, means “of miracles.” However, there are translations on the internet which arbitrarily seek to eliminate the supernatural description that josephus used and substitute words like “surprising” for miraculous -which, rather obviously, changes the importance of the word used in the text. It should, in fact, not be at all surprising that josephus would use such a word as the jews who had observed or heard about jesus’ “miraculous works” did not accuse him of fakery. Quite the contrary. The jews understood jesus to have supernatural powers -they were just, however, of the opinion that it was not derived from god but from satan (a.k.a. “beelzebub”/ “beelzebul.”^5,54.

Scourged: john 19:1 reports that pilate took jesus and had him scourged⁸. Additional reports of this are in mark 15:15 and matthew 27:26. Jesus’ pre-crucifixion scourging was, quite likely, far more severe than the two criminals that were crucified with him, since jesus died after only about 6 hours on the cross, whereas the other two were still alive and required crurifragium to hasten their death⁸.

Nailed: thomas the apostle tells jesus’ other disciples that “[u]nless i see in his hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side, i will not believe.” [john 20:25] jesus then told thomas, “place your finger here and see my hands; and take your hand and put it into my side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer. Thomas answered and said to him, “my lord and my god [8]!”

Crucified: in the 1st century, the jewish josephus wrote about how the jews brought accusations against jesus to pilate and that pilate had jesus crucified⁴⁹. Additionally, tacitus, one of the most renowned roman historians, wrote in “the annals” (circa ad 116) that jesus suffered the “extreme penalty” at the hands of pontius pilate during the reign of tiberius (ad 14 - ad 37)⁵⁵.

No crurifragium, lanced: joseph of arimathea, a member of the sanhedrin and a secret disciple of jesus, asked for and received permission from pontius pilate to claim the body of jesus for burial^5-8. However, in order for jesus’ body to be put into private custody for a burial (so as to avoid the typically unceremonious public disposal that crucified bodies received) the condemned’s body needed to first be struck (crurifragium)³² or pierced⁵³. 

John 19:31-34 reports the following:
Now it was the day of preparation and the next day was to be a special sabbath. Because the jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the sabbath, they asked pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with jesus and then those of the other. But when they came to jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water⁸. [emphasis added.]

Buried in a shroud:
Mark 15:46, matthew 27:59-61 and luke 23:53-56 report that jesus was buried in a linen cloth (“sindon”) which is a “shroud” since it is a cloth used to wrap a corpse for burial.

Within the roman empire, the sanhedrin was an official jewish governing body that presided over judicial, religious and political matters for the jewish people in palestine.

In john 19:40, a different word is used for what jesus was buried in: “othoniois.” Some translations define this word as “linen strips” which can cause confusion -as if jesus might have been wrapped in linen strips like a mummy. However, the new english.

Translation “net,” which is widely acclaimed as having probably the most exhaustive translator notes of any version of the bible and is a favorite among scholars, has a very important translator note (number 117)⁵⁶ concerning the word “othoniois” in john 19:40 which is as follows:

The fourth gospel uses ὀθονίοις (othoniois) to describe the wrappings and this has caused a good deal of debate, since it appears to contradict the synoptic accounts which mention a σινδών (sindōn), a large single piece of linen cloth. If one understands ὀθονίοις to refer to smaller strips of cloth, like bandages, there would be a difference, but diminutive forms have often lost their diminutive force in koine greek (bdf §111.3), so there may not be any difference. Also, luke uses both terms to refer to the wrappings, which suggests they are interchangeable in some contexts at least (luke 23:53; 24:12.)

Two types of death
There are two types of death that a body undergoes: “clinical death” and “cellular death.” With clinical death, the brain, heart and lungs irreversibly cease to function. As such, the oxygen supply -the primary and preferred energy source for all cells- comes to an end. However, at this point in time, the cells in the body are not dead and, in fact, many cells will remain alive after death anywhere from several hours to even several days. Once all of the cells in a cadaver have died, then molecular death has occurred.

Postmortem changes to muscles
Rigor mortis and cadaveric spasms are best understood within the overall context of the several types of postmortem muscular changes that develop in a corpse which are set forth, below:

Primary muscular flaccidity: initially, there is an automatic and total relaxation of the muscles that occurs immediately after death and which is known as “primary muscular flaccidity⁵⁷.” With primary muscular flaccidity, its duration typically ranges from 1-3 hours postmortem⁵⁷ and during this time, the muscles remain soft and the joints are capable of being flexed⁵⁸. During this period of primary muscular flaccidity, the state of relaxation in the corpse’s muscles is due to the presence of energy known as adenosine triphosphate (“atp”) which continues to be generated

For all 50 states within the united states, “death” is defined by the uniform determination of death act as an irreversible cessation of the circulatory and respiratory functions and/or an irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem.

In the corpse for a finite length of time via anaerobic glycolysis. Once the corpse becomes unable to resynthesizes atp, the level of atp in the body will progressively diminish until it is depleted.

Rigor mortis: as all of the muscles -both voluntary and involuntary- progressively lose their ability to remain relaxed by way of receiving energy from atp, they, correspondingly, contract in a systematic way so as to progressively induce stiffening throughout the body by way of the process known as “rigor mortis”^59,60.

Pattern of rigor mortis: rigor mortis’ pattern of onset -known as the “march of rigor” is as follows from first to-last: the involuntary heart muscles, the eyelid muscles, the muscles of the lower jaw, the neck, the upper limbs, the muscles in the trunk, the lower limbs and, lastly, the muscles in the fingers and toes^61,57,62. Rigor mortis progressively fades away from the body in the same order that it appeared so that the muscles which first develop rigor mortis will typically be the first to lose it⁶¹.

Timeline for rigor mortis: as the postmortem period of primary muscular flaccidity comes to an end, the classic “rule of 12” holds that rigor mortis progresses with the following timeline: 12 hours to progressively set in, 12 hours of remaining constant at its peak and 12 hours to progressively subside. Therefore, according to the rule of 12, from around 24-27 hours postmortem (which includes an estimated 1-3 hours for the typical period of primary muscular flaccidity), the effects of rigor mortis would start waning and be gone by around 37-39 hours postmortem.

With the window for jesus’ third-day resurrection ranging from around 28-39 hours postmortem, supra, does this mean that a later resurrection time would preclude any evidence on the shroud of rigor mortis? Let’s see.

The classic rule of 12’s timeline -which can still be found being repeated in more modern texts⁶³- is, however, in significant conflict with other reports for timelines regarding how long rigor mortis can be sustained. For example, it is reported that under typical circumstances, rigor mortis begins to fade away after approximately 36 hours of being in effect⁵⁷-as opposed to being gone by 36 hours per the rule of 12.

Additional sources state that rigor mortis will not typically begin to disappear until the even more expanded time period of around 36-48 hours^57,61 postmortem and that there still might even be some rigidity that persists in the lower limbs for up to 3-5 days (72-120 hours) ^57,61. Other reports have the onset of rigor mortis spanning from 2-6 hours postmortem⁶⁴, the persistence of rigor mortis spanning from 24-84 hours and the gradual relaxation of the muscles occurring after the 24-84-hour time period^64-67.

Lastly, a meta-analysis was performed by h.j. mallach regarding the timing of rigor mortis’ development in corpses by calculating the mean and standard deviation of data concerning rigor mortis from 108 publications spanning from 1811-1960⁶⁸. He found that the mean for total rigidity was 8 hours (with a standard deviation of 1 hour with the lower limit at 6 hours and the upper limit at 10 hours post-mortem)⁶⁹. Regarding the persistence of rigor mortis, mallach found the mean to be 57 hours (with a standard deviation of 14 hours with a lower limit at 29 hours and an upper limit being at 85 hours post- mortem)⁶⁹. Regarding the resolution of rigor mortis, he found the mean to be 76 hours (with a standard deviation of 32 hours with a lower limit at 12 hours and an upper limit at 140 hours [5.8 days] post-mortem⁶⁹. See, also,⁷⁰.

Factors affecting onset and duration: both the onset and duration of rigor mortis typically range from 2-6 hours postmortem^66,65,71. This timing, however, can range from one cadaver to the next because of varying internal and/or external factors⁶¹, such as the ones set forth below:

Early onset: death between the ages of 18-50⁶¹; fatigued muscles⁶¹ at or near the time of death (which can potentially induce almost immediate rigor mortis)¹⁰; a violent death^61,10; dying in an open environment⁵⁷; muscle convulsions shortly before death^57,61; death in a warm and humid environment⁶¹; high metabolic status (caused by things such as fever, exercise or heat) which can also potentially result in the atypical development of rigor mortis^61,66.

Delayed onset: sudden death to a healthy body⁶¹; a cold ambient temperature⁶¹; death by hanging⁶¹; severe hemorrhage immediately prior to death⁶¹; and death from asphyxia⁶¹.

Shorter duration: intense muscle spasms/convulsions just prior to death; death occurring in a warm and humid environment and a violent death⁶¹.

Longer duration: death between the ages of 18-50; a healthy and muscular body just prior to death [61]; less clothing on a body; and a cold ambient temperature⁶¹.

Additional influences on the onset, degree and duration of rigor mortis are as follows: the degree to which body was nourished (and hydrated) just prior to death^73,61; the degree of acidity in the muscle tissue just prior to death⁷⁴; and whether or not the corpse was moved prior to the onset of rigor mortis⁷⁴.

While the norm is for bodies to immediately start cooling after death, corpses have been known to exhibit postmortem fevers. In a retrospective study of 744 violent deaths, it was found that the incidence rate of postmortem fever was at 10%⁷².

An ambient temperature below 5°c/ 41°f will indefinitely impede the development of rigor mortis in a corpse⁶¹. 

When assessing rigor mortis’ time of onset and/or duration, there might be factors that compete with each other. It cannot be assumed that each factor carries the same weight when attempting to assess which factor/s might be determinative⁶¹. For example, if there are two factors which are in the category of triggering the early onset of rigor mortis, but there are three factors that are in the category for causing a delay in the onset of rigor mortis, it should not be assumed that rigor mortis was delayed. Why? Because some factors (either alone or in conjunction with other particular factors) might have a greater propensity for either inducing or delaying rigor mortis. Moreover, one or more weaker factors that are present to a higher degree might dominate over a stronger factor that is present to a lesser degree. For these and other reasons, rigor mortis is considered to be the least reliable of the post-mortem changes for estimating a cadaver’s time of death.

Reversibility of rigor mortis: in the early stages of rigor mortis -typically 6-8 hours postmortem⁷⁵- stiffness can be reversible due to there still being muscle fibers which have yet to contract; however, while breaking this rigidity in muscle fibers can during this period of time can be accomplished by, for example, bending a joint, doing so will then induce rigidity in unyet stiffened muscle fibers located either above or below the area where rigor was broken⁷⁵. Once maximum rigidity is reached, the corpse will become practically rock-hard and the rigidity will be fixed¹⁰ until it progressively diminishes and then disappears. During this decline in rigidity, the muscles undergo a new and different form of post-mortem relaxation known as “secondary muscular flaccidity”⁵⁷.

Secondary muscular flaccidity: secondary muscular flaccidity causes the stiff muscles of rigor mortis to progressively relax, however, it is completely unconnected to atp which had initially enabled the muscles to remain relaxed during the period of primary muscular flaccidity and which is now already completely depleted from the corpse. Instead, the relaxation of the muscles during secondary muscular flaccidity is due to the action of proteolytic enzymes as well as the body’s overall process of cellular breakdown^60,64,65 which corresponds to the changes occurring to the cadaver due to the process of putrefaction⁵⁹.

Is the repositioning of a corpse detectable?
Prior to rigor mortis, there is the aforementioned period of primary muscular flaccidity. During this typically 1-3hour time period when the corpse’s muscles are relaxed, the body can easily be repositioned. However, there still might be a way to detect if a corpse has been repositioned at this point in time through the tell-tale signs of livor mortis (a.k.a. “hypostasis.”) Although the

Drowning deaths are an example of how the early onset of rigor mortis does not necessarily compel the early cessation of rigor mortis. This is because while the muscular fatigue from trying to not drown is a factor for the early onset of rigor mortis, if the corpse is in cold water, the cold temperature of the water could prolong rigor mortis’ effect on the body.

One of the important signs of death is the irreversible cessation of a heartbeat in a body. When this happens, the veins and arteries no longer receive blood flow and the red blood cells (which are heavier than other components in blood) settle in accordance with gravity to the lowest portions of the body in what is known as “livor mortis” or “postmortem lividity.”

Timing for livor mortis can vary rather substantially, its signs can begin to develop as discolored spots on the skin as early as 30 minutes to 1hour postmortem⁶³ and over time, these skin discolorations become larger and turn into purplish-blue patches⁵⁹. However, prior to livor mortis’ reaching its maximum effect, it is said to be in an “unfixed” state because the blood has not yet coagulated; as such, this means that the aforementioned discoloration can shift during this earlier postmortem time period if the body is moved⁷⁶. But, once maximum lividity is reached, it becomes “fixed” that if the corpse is moved and/or repositioned, the discoloration in the skin will not shift, but, instead, it will remain where it is.

Livor mortis can become fixed as early as 4 hours⁶⁴ postmortem to as late as 15 hours⁶¹ postmortem. Moreover, once livor mortis is fixed, it will not disappear but, instead, it will then just blend into the rest of the body’s discoloration from the decomposition process. If a corpse is found where it is positioned in a way that the discoloration of the skin from livor mortis is not positioned at the lowest points of the body, this indicates that the body has been moved/repositioned post-mortem.

If a corpse is found in rigor mortis, its position is an indication of either how it was positioned at the time of the onset of rigor mortis (which might -or might not- be different from the position of the body at the time of death (because the body might have been repositioned during the period of primary muscular flaccidity) or the body might have been repositioned by external forces during rigor mortis. A tell-tale sign that a corpse has been repositioned is if it is still in substantial rigor mortis, but the body is positioned in a way that defies gravity without some means of support^78,73.

If a body is repositioned by “breaking” rigor mortis through the forcible bending of a limb at a joint¹⁰ while the body is still in a state of rigor, rigidity will quickly become re-established in the new position, albeit to a lesser degree^79,64.

If a corpse is repositioned after rigor mortis has passed, this means that the corpse is now in the state of secondary muscular flaccidity where the muscles will be relaxed again. The corpse can, once again, be moved without the stiffness of rigor mortis. However, repositioning/movement of the corpse might still be detectable if the skin discoloration from livor mortis is found in a location that is inconsistent with gravity and if there is a detectable contrast between the discoloration due to livor mortis and the particular state of decomposition that the corpse is found in.

Cadaveric spasm: cadaveric spasm -often thought of as an “instantaneous rigor mortis”⁸⁰- is a controversial postmortem condition that is said to be extremely rare⁸¹ and it is said to typically involve a Putrefactive gases can cause bloating in a corpse as early as three days postmortem⁶³ and this bloating can result in certain body parts becoming distended in such a way that they defy gravity; however, this is not actual rigor mortis⁷⁷. Moreover, since there is no indication of post-mortem bloating on the body images on the shroud, any appearance of stiffness or a gravity-defying position cannot reasonably be attributed to bloating from putrefactive gases.

Group of muscles that are heavily used right before death, are immediately stiffened at the moment of death^82,83 or immediately after death⁸⁰, remain stiff with the onset of rigor mortis⁸⁴ and remain stiff until rigor mortis is resolved⁸⁵.

Although the stiffness brought on by a cadaveric spasm can appear the same as rigor mortis, it is distinguishable from rigor mortis in that it presents with stronger muscular stiffening than rigor mortis and it is more difficult to “break” the stiffness from a cadaveric spasm than from rigor mortis^86,87. Moreover, while it is possible for a cadaveric spasm to affect the entire body (“cataleptic rigor mortis”)⁸², it more typically involves a particular part of the body that would have been under stress at the time of death⁸⁰. Additionally, the immediacy of a cadaveric spasm at the time of death means that it can preserve muscles in a stiffened, gravity-defying state that bypasses the gravity-inducing influence of primary muscular flaccidity on the position a body takes prior to its typically going into rigor mortis^82,83.

Retired chief medical examiner dr. Marcella f. Fierro has only seen three instances of cadaveric spasms in her over 30 years of practice. In all three of these cases, asphyxia was an important factor in the cause of death⁸¹.

An example of a case evidencing a cadaveric spasm was with a murder victim who was found with his mouth unusually positioned - the upper central teeth were visible and biting down on the lower lip. [alfleesy] typically, cadavers are found with an open mouth due to the jaw’s dropping during primary muscular flaccidity, rigor mortis’ then preserving that open- mouthed position and then the mouth continues to remain open during the period of secondary muscular flaccidity [alfleesy] and the corresponding decomposition of the corpse.

Another example of a case evidencing a cadaveric spasm was when a man was chasing his wife with a straight razor and she shot him in self-defense (figure 1). The husband collapsed to his knees and died instantly while still clutching the weapon (in defiance of gravity) that he had been holding in the midst of his attack [dimaio].

It is said that while rigor mortis provides information about the amount of time since death, a cadaveric spasm provides a comment on the manner of death. [shedge]

Cadaveric spasm captures the body’s final action prior to death that was preceded by severe, highly stressful physical or emotional activity^82,81.


Figure 1: frontal and dorsal photonegative images of the shroud of turin taken in 1931 by professional photographer giuseppe enrie. As he was photographing the shroud, enrie was flanked by a french scientist, a priest and secondo pia as witnesses. This was because pia -the first to ever photograph the shroud in 1898- had been dogged by accusations that he had manipulated the photonegative images due to the shocking detail that emerged in the frontal facial image. As such, enrie proactively published details regarding the lighting, lenses, filters, exposure times and camera settings that he used while taking these photographs. Https://shroud.com/pdfs/ssi18part4.pdf with enrie’s photonegative images matching pia’s, pia was exonerated.

Forensic findings regarding rigor mortis, cadaveric spasm and crucifixion
The findings of two renowned american forensic pathologists are presented below as they pertain to evidence of rigor mortis, cadaveric spasm and crucifixion that they detected during their close study of the details contained within life-sized photographs of the full-sized frontal and dorsal body images on the shroud. Their advanced training along with decades of experience in examining forensic and anatomical details in order to determine both the cause and manner of a cadaver’s death gave them precise skill that was needed to understand what the body image reveals.

Dr. Frederick zugibe, m.d., m.s. and phd in human anatomy (1928-2013), was the chief medical examiner of rockland county, new york from 1969-2003. During his tenure, he performed approximately 10,000 autopsies.

The first of the 7 times that dr. Zugibe saw the shroud in-person was on october 7, 1978. Presumably the number is this high, because he stood in line more than once during the time period that the shroud was on ostension in a given year, although he specified that he once was given the special privilege of seeing the shroud outside of its protective case¹⁰.

Dr. Robert bucklin, m.d., j.d. (1916-2001) worked for over 50 years as a forensic pathologist and he performed over 25,000 autopsies. During part of this time and among just many of his accomplishments, dr. Bucklin was the chief of the forensics division under chief medical examiner-coroner dr. Thomas noguchi in los angeles county, california during a time when this county was widely considered to be the “murder capital” of the united states -giving dr. Bucklin and his division a vast amount of experience in performing autopsies where the detailed evidence for a corpse’s cause and manner of death would often be of pivotal importance in many murder trials. Dr. Bucklin was, also, a member of the sturp team, however, approximately 20 years prior to joining the sturp team, he had already published his medical and forensic findings regarding the body images on the shroud. [bucklin 1958].

While studying full-sized photographs of a body image cannot be said to be the equivalent to performing an actual, full autopsy on a corpse -where the forensic pathologist can touch, manipulate and cut into the body- nevertheless, to the well trained and highly-experienced eyes of dr. Zugibe and dr. Bucklin, many pertinent details about cause and manner of death were still noticeable from such photographs which untrained, inexperienced eyes would never notice -much less imagine.

Dr. Zugibe Neck, head and shoulders: with the frontal body image, there is an apparent absence of neck space, whereas with the dorsal image there appears to be an elongation of the neck. This can be explained by the head being bent forward in rigor mortis.

Zugibe explains that the head on the shroud is positioned as it is, because the violence of jesus’ death triggered a cadaveric spasm which kept the neck muscles solidly contracted (as opposed to becoming flaccid at the moment of death due to primary muscular flaccidity) postmortem and that the positioning of the head was maintained until rigor mortis was fully developed.

The shoulders appear to be in a raised position and the head appears caught in between the raised shoulders and, as aforementioned, bent forward. Moreover, the right shoulder appears somewhat lower than the left.

When working as the chief of the forensics division in los angeles county, dr. Bucklin had 17 pathologists working under his charge⁸⁸.

For full details of bucklin’s professional experience performing over 25,000 autopsies see⁸⁸.

While acknowledging that rigor mortis in a corpse can be quite variable, zugibe’s calculation for the timing of the typical onset and duration of rigor mortis is: approximately 3 hours postmortem for the onset, rigor mortis is complete in about 18-36 hours and rigor will usually remain for about 12 hours and gradually leave the body in 12 or more hours¹⁰.

The shoulders are made up of three bones: collarbone/clavicle), scapula/shoulder blade (where all of the shoulder muscles interact), the humerus/upper arm bone (which connects the upper arms to the torso.)

The main bones used to raise one’s shoulders are the scapula (shoulder blade) and clavicle (collarbone.)

Zugibe performed suspension experiments with volunteers who weighed in the range of 174-204 pounds since the body image on the shroud appears to be that of a man weighing approximately 175 pounds⁸⁹. From these suspension experiments, zugibe discovered that when they were put in the upright position of crucifixion their arms would fall into formation at an angle in the range of 65°-68° and their head would get caught between their shoulders and be capable of only a limited amount of movement from side-to-side and from front-to-back. Zugibe’s suspension experiments, therefore, confirmed his explanation for the appearance of the neck and shoulders in the shroud’s two body images.

Arms: but, what about the arms?

The shroud contains no depiction whatsoever of outstretched arms -much less arms outstretched to a 65°-68° angle. Instead, as zugibe points out, the hands in the body image are crossed just below the umbilicus at the hip level with the left hand over the right hand. Quite obviously, this is not the position of a person who went into rigor mortis while still crucified to a cross. Yet, to the well-trained and experienced eye, the matter is not closed. Zugibe’s expertise in examining bloodstains and determining their origin enabled him to uncover the full story behind the bloodstains on the arms so as to explain the incongruence. With regard to the bloodstains on the arms, he made the following observations:

It is obvious that the blood flows on the arms occurred right after removal of the nails (which had sealed the wounds during suspension) from the hand area, causing the blood that contained fibrinolysins to flow down the back of the arms from the nail exit wound while the arms were suspended above the head still in rigor at the same angle in which they had been nailed to the crosspiece. The [blood] flow patterns are consistent with the position of the crucarius [sic] on the cros¹⁰.

Zugibe further explained that while the image of the arms on the shroud exhibits the stiffness of rigor mortis, their position was altered for the purpose of entombment. Specifically, for them to be in the position that they are on the shroud, rigor mortis had to be broken at the shoulder joint and also slightly at the elbows. He referred to the shroud man’s body conforming to the position of crucifixion during entombment with the exception of the arms -where the Zugibe further notes that this is in sharp contrast to the many artistic depictions of jesus on the cross where jesus’ head is in various positions (as depicted by the imagination of artists but not factually accurate) such as “hanging way over to the left or right, arched forward with and without the shoulders bent forward, etc.¹⁰.” The latin word for a person executed via crucifixion is “cruciarius.”

The author notes that the postmortem repositioning of the arms was, also, likely prompted by the desire to fully contain the corpse within the confines of the burial cloth (without, for example, arms outstretched and sticking out of the relatively narrow burial cloth) and to possibly place the corpse on a possible built-in bench in a niche within a cave tomb in jerusalem.

The term “breaking” rigor mortis is not about breaking bones; instead, it involves the forcible bending of a limb at a joint¹⁰ so as to unstiffen the muscle fibers that are responsible for the rigidity.

Rigor had been broken and maintained (as in there was still rigor mortis in the arms after they were repositioned.)

As aforementioned, rigor mortis can be broken through the forced bending of a limb at a joint. Moreover, if rigor mortis is still in a reversible, unfixed state, rigidity can be reestablished in the new position —albeit to a lesser degree of stiffness than prior to the repositioning [79], [64]. If, however, rigor mortis is fully developed and, therefore, fixed, it is doubtful that even with the exertion of great force that the body will be capable of being repositioned by way of stretching or flexing a joint^78,75; and, if it were repositioned, there would be no stiffness in that area where rigor was broken⁷⁸.

Since the shroud is thought by many, including the author, to be the actual burial cloth of jesus of nazareth, it is relevant to note that since jesus’ death was reported to be at 3:00 pm^7,6. His burial took place within, at most, a couple of hours afterwards as it was preparation day with sundown quickly approaching to mark the sabbath⁷. As such, in jesus’ particular case, there is a strong likelihood that rigor mortis was not yet fixed, that the arms were still repositionable into the very stylized and very dignified burial position that is on the shroud’s body image and that after the arms were repositioned, enough stiffness returned to the arms to give them the stiff appearance that zugibe observed.

Zugibe further noted that the repositioning of the arms by breaking rigor in the shoulder joints and elbows would not have disturbed the raised position of the shoulders with the head caught in between them.

Additionally, concerning the amount of blood that is seen on the arms on the body image, zugibe mentions that while it might seem like a lot, that it really is not and the reason why is because there was not a beating heart when the nails were removed and because the arms were in a suspended position. He further noted that even prior to death that the nail wounds would not have caused bleeding down the arm, because the large nails would have sealed the wounds and, additionally, the arms were in an elevated position and the blood pressure would have been very low.

Chest: zugibe noted that the chest appears raised in a way that is consistent with a cadaver’s experiencing rigor mortis while still suspended from a cross.

Legs and feet: zugibe observed the the right calf is denser than the left calf and there is only a partial imprint of the left heel which suggests that there is “either a very slight bend at the left knee with the

Zugibe mentions that a major part of his work as a medical examiner is to estimate the quantity of blood on various items during investigations for homicides, suicides, etc.¹⁰.

Zugibe notes that with someone crucified to a cross, for a significant amount of time prior to death, there would be a decrease in the flow of blood from wounds due to marked hypotension induced by shock¹⁰.

Foot flexed slightly forward or a turning inward of the left foot over the right” moreover, with the foot area showing an image of the right sole and heel, this is further evidence that the knees in the body image are bent. Zugibe’s suspension experiments confirmed what his predecessor dr. Pierre barbet maintained: that when a crucifixion victim is nailed to a cross with the soles of the feet nailed flat to the vertical beam of the cross, this will cause the knees to bend forward to an angle of about 120° +/- 2°.

Zugibe also pointed out that the calves exhibit a natural roundness in their appearance which is in contrast and conflict with the expected flattened appearance that a cadaver should exhibit if reclining flat with unbent knees. As such, this is further evidence of bent knees being kept bent by the effect of rigor mortis [as opposed to the flattening that occurs with primary or secondary muscular flaccidity.

Regarding the bent position of the legs, zugibe thought that the legs, also, experienced a cadaveric spasm so as to maintain this bent position until rigor mortis occurred (thereby avoiding the flaccidity of primary muscular flaccidity.) However, while the author thinks that it is quite possible that the legs experienced cadaveric spasm, she does not see this as definitive. Why? Because the position of the soles of the feet being pressed flatly against the vertical beam of the cross (stipes) would “mechanically” hold the knees in place in a bent position regardless as to whether the muscles became flaccid or not through primary muscular flaccidity at the moment of death.

The left foot is slightly shorter than the right and the image of the tip of the right foot has an unusual position which could be considered evidence that one nail was used to secure both feet to the cross.

This positioning of the leg and foot is evidence that a man’s body was in rigor mortis at the time that he was placed in the shroud. Corroborating this is the asymmetry of the legs in the body image, because if rigor mortis had not been in effect at the time of image formation, the legs in the body image would be symmetrical [due to primary muscular flaccidity.]

Buttocks: zugibe noted that the right side of the buttocks is lower than the left side which causes the buttocks to appear asymmetrical. This asymmetry with the buttocks corresponds with zugibe’s observation of asymmetry with the position of the legs.

Bucklin
Overall appearance : dr. Pierre barbet (1884-1961) was a french battlefield surgeon during world war i and the chief surgeon at st. Joseph’s hospital in paris. He was a prominent shroud researcher and a pioneer in the area of performing experiments (with cadavers) to learn more about important details regarding crucifixion and to apply that knowledge to details that he was observing about the bloodstains and body images on the shroud.

Bucklin reported that the body image has an overall appearance of stiffness.

Legs and feet: with regard to the lower extremities, bucklin noted that “specific alterations in the appearance of the lower extremities from the posterior aspect” are evidence of rigor mortis. The following are further details with regard to this:

The imprint of the right calf is much more distinct than that of the left indicating that at the time of death the left leg was rotated in such a way that the sole of the left foot rested on the ventral surface of the right foot with resultant slight flexion [bending] of the left knee. That position was maintained after rigor mortis had developed . . . Here is a reasonably clear outline of the right foot made by the sole of that foot having been covered with blood and leaving an imprint which reflects the heal as well as the toes. The left foot imprint is less clear and it is also noticeable the left calf imprint is unclear. This supports the opinion that the left leg had been rotated and crossed over the right instep in such a way that an incomplete foot print was formed. [emphasis added.]

Moreover, the following is evidence that the man of the shroud was crucified and that his feet were overlapped so that one nail could be used to affix them both to a cross:

In the center of the right foot imprint, a definite punctate defect can be noted. This puncture is consistent with an object having penetrated the structures of the feet and from the position of the feet the conclusion would be reasonable that the same object penetrated both feet after the left foot had been placed over the right. [emphasis added.]

Arms: regarding evidence that the body was in the position of crucifixion, bucklin noticed that the flow of the bloodstains on the wrist and the two arms on the frontal image of the shroud could not have happened while the arms and wrist were in the position that they are depicted in on the shroud, because they would have flowed counter to the laws of gravity. In reconstructing the position that the arms would have needed to have been in so as to create blood flows on the wrist and arms like with what is seen on the shroud, dr. Bucklin indicated that the arms would have needed to be outstretched upward in a 65° degree angle with the horizontal.

Position of the body at death: regarding the position that the man of the shroud was in when he died, bucklin reported:

The position of the puncture defects in the wrist, coupled with the blood flow towards the elbows and also associated with the punctures of the feet, permit the pathologist to conclude that the victim was in an upright position with his arms extended when the blood flow took place. A crucifixion type posture would be the most plausible explanation for these findings. [emphasis added.]

Chest: the nature of the bloodstain from the chest area is indicative of a dead body which corroborates the separate findings of rigor mortis. Specifically, with the bloodstain from the chest bucklin stated the following:

There is distinct evidence of a gravitational effect on this stain with the blood flowing downward and without spatter of other evidence of the projectile activity which would be expected from blood issuing from a functional arterial source. This wound has all of the characteristics of a postmortem type flow of blood from a body cavity or from an organ such as the heart. [emphasis added.]

Bucklin also found additional evidence of death in the upper plane of the bloodstain from the chest where he detects “an ovoid skin defect which is characteristic of a penetrating track produced by a sharp puncturing instrument.” [emphasis added.]

Regarding the chest, bucklin further noted that the appearance of “an increase in the anteroposterior diameter of the chest due to bilateral expansion.”

This increase in the anteroposterior diameter of the chest due to bilateral expansion that bucklin described is precisely what occurs when one breathes in or inhales. More specifically, the following occurs when a breath is drawn in:

During inspiration, the anteroposterior diameter of the thorax is increased when the ribs are raised. Because ribs slope downward, any elevation during inspiration results in an upward movement of the sternum at the manubriosternal joint and an increase in the anteroposterior diameter of the thorax⁹⁰.

Although bucklin does not state this, the author observes that bucklin’s report concerning the appearance of the chest in the body image is evidence of a cadaveric spasm in the chest that preserved the last inhaled breath of the man of the shroud.

While inhaling requires the use of muscles, exhaling is often a passive process unless, for example, someone is exercising. But, with the primary muscular flaccidity that occurs immediately after death, the chest muscles would relax which would cause the passive process of exhalation⁹¹. However, a cadaveric spasm at the moment of last inhalation at the time of See³² regarding nails used for crucifixions in the 1st century. Also, corroborating the evidence that points to the man of the shroud as a crucifixion victim are the patterned injuries all over the frontal and dorsal area of the body image which are consistent with commonly administered pre- crucifixion scourging^{33,36,39,8,6,5}.

Death would fix the muscles that were used to effectuate the bilateral expansion (until the onset of secondary muscular flaccidity.)

Piczek experimentally confirms bent knees
The internationally acclaimed artist dame isabel piczek noticed that the knees in the frontal and dorsal depictions of the body images on the shroud are bent. She then sought to objectively prove her subjective observation through an elegantly simple experiment: piczek had a live artist’s model lay in the supine position with his body positioned in the same way as the body is positioned in the frontal body image on the shroud. Then, she directed the model to take two different poses while in this supine position so as to determine if the frontal body image on the shroud can appear as it does if a real man’s knees are unbent. The first pose had the model reclining with his back and legs completely flat, while the second pose had him reclining flat on his back but with his knees bent. In observing these two positions, piczek was able to confirm that the knees in the frontal body image would have had to have been bent if the body image on the shroud had somehow been imprinted from an actual body. Why? Because the manner in which the arms and hands are positioned on the shroud cover the man’s genitals and when the model was lying flat in the supine position with unbent knees, his genitals were exposed due to the arms not being long enough in this position to cover his genitals. However, piczek noticed that when the model was in this same position but with his knees bent, his arms were long enough so that his crossed hands could cover his genitals -just like what is seen with the frontal body image on the shroud⁹².

Conclusion
The forensic findings of two preeminent forensic medical examiners point to numerous details in the position of body parts on the shroud’s frontal and dorsal body images which indicate a body in a state of rigor mortis and cadaveric spasm. These findings were based on each of their decades’ worth of experience in closely examining details in corpses in various postmortem stages so as to determine both cause and manner of death and from their observations from conducting and/or participating in suspension experiments.

Specifically, they both found that the bloodstains and various positions of body parts in the images body are indicative of a crucifixion victim that died and went into a cadaveric spasm and rigor mortis while still nailed to a cross in the upright position with arms in an upwardly outstretched position and where one nail attached both feet to the cross. They noticed further details that point to the arms being repositioned -after the body was deposited from the cross while still in a state of cadaveric spasm and rigor mortis- into the very stylized burial position that is seen in the frontal image.

Additionally, the forensic finding of the bent knees in the body images by both medical examiners was corroborated by a totally different type of experiment that was conducted by an internationally acclaimed artist with a live model being placed in the position of the body images on the shroud.

Regarding whether or not rigor mortis and cadaveric spasm could have been sustained to around the maximum time period (39 hours) that the gospels indicate that jesus was resurrected on the “third day” after his crucifixion, the findings from mallach’s metanalysis of data from 108 publications regarding the timing of the development of rigor mortis in corpses, as well corroborating information from a number of independent sources, conclusively indicate that the answer is “yes,” and that the overly restrictive timeline that the classic “rule of 12” instructs is too broad and too simplistic to be a reliable measure -particularly in a case where cause and manner of death are far outside of the norm which most doctors will ever encounter. However, in all situations, many factors can alter the timeline for the onset and and attenuation of rigor mortis. As such, the best approach is to examine the factors that are in play on a case-by-case basis.

In the particular case of jesus of nazareth’s death, as well as the particular circumstances leading up to and following, his death, there are competing factors with regard to the timing of both the onset and duration of rigor mortis. Moreover, each of these factors has the capacity to weigh significantly more or less in its effect on rigor mortis than other relevant factors which adds to the complexity of things. Additionally, it is doubtful that many (if any) forensic medical examiners have examined bodies which have undergone the type and degree of torture that jesus underwent before dying. All-in-all, we cannot really know with any high degree of confidence how quickly rigor mortis set in and how long it lasted in jesus’ body. Understanding the factors (as well as how long rigor mortis can be visibly sustained in a body), however, does show us that there are many factors that could have caused cadaveric spasm as well as a very early (if not nearly instantaneous) onset of rigor mortis and that there are factors which could have caused jesus’ body to remain in rigor mortis until just before the time that the empty tomb was discovered on the “third day.”

As such, there is no conflict between rigor mortis and cadaveric spasm being indicated on the frontal and dorsal body images on the shroud and that jesus’ body was the one that created the body image.

While extraneous to the issue of rigor mortis and cadaveric spasm, but relevant to the issue of the identity of the man of the shroud, the bloodstains on the head are consistent with a crown of crown of thorns^10,89. Since history knows of only one person -a crucifixion victim- who had a crown of thorns placed on his head, this is compelling evidence that the man of the shroud is none other than jesus of nazareth.

What is most compelling about the details pointing to rigor mortis and cadaveric spasm on the frontal and dorsal body images on the shroud is how inconspicuous they are -to undoubtedly all except those with both a very trained eye and a very trained mind with regard to the various changes that a body undergoes in relationship to its surroundings during the postmortem process.

With regard to whether a forger put in these details to make the body images on the shroud convincing to the public, one must not just ask that question, but one must critically think through it.

The eyes cannot see what the mind does not know. As such, a medieval forger cannot create that which he cannot conceive. The details with regard to the head, neck, shoulders, arms, legs, bent knees, calves and feet are so subtle that it would strain credulity to think that any forger (much less a medieval one) could have even imagined the inclusion of such details. Moreover, there is the question of why would a forger include details so subtle that they would be meaningless to the public? How does the public become convinced of something that they are not even aware of?

Adding to the complexity of things, even if we imagine the unimaginable -that a forger imagined these detail —there is the additional problem that no known person has ever managed to produce a body image that exhibits all of the special features that the shroud’s body images possess.

Nonetheless, with the findings of these experts whose results are discussed in this paper, our minds are now aware of these details -many of which our own eyes can easily see to confirm.

Most importantly, these very important details point to the authenticity of the body images and that the body that created these body images in some still unknown way is none other than jesus of nazareth -a man whose continued reputation for nearly 2,000 years is still intertwined with his involvement with supernatural acts.

Dedication
This paper is dedicated to the memory of my beloved uncle ted -aristotle theodore pappas (september 15, 1928-october 30, 2022.) He was my wing-maker, my greatest teacher and my biggest champion. And, to those who had the pleasure of knowing him, they knew him to be the good man that he habitually was. His “mantra” regarding work was always: "dedication, determination and persistence,” and he drilled that into my brain on a regular basis for at least the first three decades of my life. Those happen to be three of the most important personality traits that one needs when deeply researching the shroud, so i am profoundly grateful to him for that important life lesson among the many that he taught me. You continue to be loved and missed by me beyond what words can adequately express. Rest in peace, unc.

Acknowledgements
Endless thanks to giulio fanti for his ongoing kindness and helpfulness to me in all of the areas of shroud research that i have explored as well as for his very useful advice on many issues in this paper. Many thanks, also, to peter schumacher and janis winchester for their helpful comments concerning the vp-8 image analyzer, to randy hale, russell peterson and chris coleman for their technical advice on some computer issues and to dr. Gilbert lavoie and gerardo ballabio for their helpful comments regarding the issue of negative images.

Special thanks to editor michael kowalski of the british society for the turin shroud

Newsletter who published my first paper on rigor mortis in the summer 2024

Newsletter and for his useful editorial help with that paper. Pappas, theodora a., “indicia of reliability: evidence of rigor mortis and cadaveric spasm from the body image on the shroud of turin,” british society for the turin shroud newsletter, issue no. 99, summer 2024, https://www.bstsnewsletter.com/⁹⁴.

Lastly, deep thanks to barrie schwortz (september 12, 1946-june 21, 2024.) Barrie was a very kind and generous teacher to me and many others and he was routinely a very helpful source of information on countless matters regarding the shroud of turin. Being regaled by barrie with wonderful first-hand stories about the shroud was always the “cherry on top” of our many discussions. He is missed very much by me and so many others, but he lives on through the great legacy that he has left us with in the form of shroud.com and the many stories that we share about him. Rest in peace, dear friend.