Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano

Inaugurated by Miracles - Part 2

0. Introduction

This is the second installment in a series of articles surveying the evidence for Catholic miracles. My objective is to present the miracle case for Catholicism in a way that is rigorous enough to persuade those that are strongly predisposed towards skepticism. That means empirical data has to be inferred from primary sources and every skeptical explanation has to be excluded by multiple lines of evidence.

In this article, I focus on the evidence for the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano. In the first section, I demonstrate that the Lanciano relics consist of human cardiac tissue and blood clots. In the second section, I demonstrate that skeptical explanations of the origination of the relics are not tenable. In the third section, I demonstrate that skeptical explanations of the preservation of the relics are not tenable either. In the fourth section, I conclude the best explanation is that Lanciano was divine vindication of Catholicism. In the fifth section, I respond to objections to that conclusion.

1. Flesh and Blood

For centuries, the Lanciano relics have been venerated as the remains of a Eucharistic miracle, believed to have taken place when a doubting priest witnessed the elements transform during Mass. In 1886, the relics were secured with episcopal seals. When the Archbishop of Lanciano authorized a scientific investigation in 1970, the seals were broken in the presence of church officials, and Professor Odoardo Linoli was permitted to extract fragments of the relics. After a thorough investigation, Linoli concluded the ‘flesh’ was human cardiac tissue and the ‘blood’ was human blood.¹

Linoli was the Head of the Laboratory of Clinical Analysis and Pathological Anatomy at the Hospital of Arezzo in Tuscany, Italy.² In other words, he was in charge of quality control for clinical diagnostic science at a mid-sized teaching hospital. His unit processed both routine and complex diagnostic specimens for an entire Tuscan province. That means he had continuous, high volume, hands-on experience with histopathology, serology, and chemical assays. It also means he was attuned to all of the procedural and interpretative errors that can lead to misidentification of samples.

Linoli was also certified to teach anatomy, histology, clinical microscopy, and chemistry to medical students and young doctors.³ As a professor of anatomy and histology, he was recognized as an expert in tissue structure. As a professor of clinical microscopy and chemistry, he was recognized as an expert in the sciences that underpin blood typing and protein analysis. It is indisputable that he was unusually qualified to determine whether the Lanciano relics were human flesh and blood.

To strengthen the credibility of his findings, Linoli solicited the opinion of an independent expert, Professor Ruggero Bertelli. At the time, Bertelli was an emeritus professor of human anatomy at the University of Siena, one of Italy’s top secular universities. Linoli gave Bertelli a series of histological preparations. After carefully examining those microscopic sections, Bertelli concurred with Linoli’s identification.⁴

Linoli published his findings in the scholarly journal Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori, a periodical issued by the Sclavo Institute in Siena, which at the time was one of Italy’s leading centers for microbiology, immunology, and clinical diagnostics.⁵ By publishing his methods, data, and conclusions in a scholarly journal, Linoli opened his findings up to scrutiny from the wider community of experts.

In 1981, Professor Linoli carried out a supplemental investigation at the request of the Friars Minor Conventual, this time on a leftover fragment that wasn’t used during the previous inspection. The results of the follow-up study were even more conclusive than the original results, since the newly examined fragment possessed evidentially significant features that had not been apparent in the previously examined fragment.⁶

1.1 - Gross anatomy

Macroscopically, the ‘flesh’ has the morphology of desiccated cardiac tissue.⁷

• (Consistency) Uniformly hard, ligneous, resistant to cutting. When muscle desiccates, it collapses into a dense, fibrous mass with a woody feel. Fibrous, woody consistency excludes bread, which crumbles, plant matter, which becomes brittle and splinters, and inorganic matter, which fractures in crystalline patterns.

• (Geometry) Circular disc, ~55-60mm in diameter. The shape of the relic is consistent with the wall of a hollow organ. This combination of an outer rounded perimeter and an inner concentric void is characteristic of tissue from a hollow, chambered organ. Solid organs do not exhibit a central opening when sectioned.

• (Thickness) Thin central tear, thicker periphery; asymmetric wall thickness. That corresponds to the structure of the heart, where the left ventricular wall is substantially thicker than the right. Such an asymmetry is characteristic of the walls of the heart and is not found in the walls of other hollow organs.

1.2 - Histology

Microscopically, the ‘flesh’ has the morphology of desiccated cardiac tissue.⁸

• (Fiber morphology) Fibers have unequal, modest lengths, nearly uniform thickness, and are gathered in bundles of varying sizes. Higher magnifications reveal a longitudinal fibrillar structure. Those features confirm striated muscle.

• (Syncytial aggregation) Fibers branch and join end-to-end, with occasional transverse bridges, forming a pervasive interconnected network. That architecture—a universal aspect of the tissue—is diagnostically specific to myocardium.

• (Adipose interdigitation) A lobule of adipose tissue in the interstitium is crossed by muscle fibers that branch within it, dispersing and ending among lipocytes. That reinforces the cardiac, as opposed to skeletal, identification of the tissue.

• (Endocardial layer) A continuous fibrous lamina with a rough, papillary-like surface overlies subendocardial tissue containing vessels, with syncytial myocardium beneath, matching the structure of ventricular endocardium.

1.3 - Uhlenhuth test

Linoli performed the Uhlenhuth test on eluates from both the ‘flesh’ and the ‘blood.’ He used commercial anti-human protein serum from the reputable supplier Behringwerke, and ran the reaction in parallel with controls: rabbit serum, bovine serum, and saline.⁹ In the 1960s-70s, Behringwerke was selling forensic-grade antisera that were specifically marketed for medico-legal use, where cross-reactivity would have undermined their admissibility. The standard practice among commercial suppliers at that time was removal of heterospecific antibodies by absorption and validation tests against panels of domestic animal species.¹⁰

The results were unambiguous: both the ‘flesh’ and the ‘blood’ produced a clear precipitin band within about five minutes with human antiserum, while no reaction appeared in the animal or saline controls.¹¹ In forensic science, the combination of a rapid, strong positive in the target antiserum and complete negativity in animal controls is decisive evidence of a true homologous match.¹² Weak cross-reactions with domestic animals can sometimes occur with low-quality antisera, but these develop slowly and faintly. The speed and clarity of Linoli’s reactions, coupled with the absence of any band in the controls, is inconsistent with a cross-reaction.¹³

1.4 - Absorption–elution test

Linoli performed the absorption–elution test on eluates from both the ‘flesh’ and the ‘blood.’ Both eluates reacted with anti-A and anti-B antisera, indicating that they belong to blood group AB. To ensure that these reactions were not caused by nonspecific background effects, Linoli included substrate controls made from blotting paper that had never come into contact with the samples, which produced no agglutination. In 1991, the AB result was reproduced by the University of Siena.¹⁴

1.5 - Protein electrophoresis

Linoli examined the protein profile of the ‘blood’ using cellulose acetate electrophoresis. The electrophoretic tracing showed a regular distribution of serum protein fractions, matching the pattern of human blood serum. Linoli emphasized that the sequence and proportions of the fractions were “completely regular and comparable to that of fresh serum,” confirming the eluate retained the profile of human serum despite its antiquity. The values were consistent with the blood serum of humans and other primates, but not with common domestic animals.¹⁵

2. Origination

2.1 - Provenance

When inquiring into the origins of the Lanciano relics, the first question is chronological: what is the latest date they could have emerged? To answer this, we need to trace the documentary evidence for the relics, working backwards.

From the seventeenth century onward, the chain of custody is secure. First, we know from episcopal visitation records and devotional accounts that the Church was continuously exhibiting relics that were visually similar to those on display today. There was no proportionate motive for substitution before the twentieth century, since there were neither imminent plans to subject the relics to critical examination nor any available means by which species or organ identity could be verified. Fabricating substitute relics would have required procuring fresh human heart tissue and clotted blood, aging them in a way that precisely replicated the effects of centuries of natural degradation, and tampering with reliquaries without detection.¹⁶

Second, the relics were placed under episcopal seals at each canonical inspection. These seals, impressed in wax with the bishop’s unique matrix, could not be removed and replaced without leaving unmistakable traces. Any clandestine attempt at substitution would therefore have been immediately apparent, since it was practically impossible to reverse engineer a matrix or to reconstitute the wax impression once broken. The seals also aged in visible ways—darkening, hardening, and developing cracks—allowing for their continuity to be recognized at a glance. This safeguard was in place throughout the entirety of the modern era. The seals affixed during the episcopal visitation of 1886 remained in place until 1970, when they were broken to allow Dr. Odoardo Linoli to extract fragments for scientific testing.¹⁷

Multiple sources confirm that an episcopal inspection took place in 1574. This examination, conducted under Bishop Rodriguez, was later commemorated in a marble epigraph that is visible today in the Church of San Francesco. The inscription, carved in 1636 when the relics were transferred to the Valsecca Chapel, explicitly records the canonical recognition of the relics in 1574. Unlike manuscripts, which can be forged or tampered with, an epigraph is a conspicuous, expensive, and inalterable witness. Its presence demonstrates that, by the late sixteenth century, the relics were already objects of a long-standing devotion, sufficiently established in popular consciousness to warrant episcopal confirmation and epigraphic commemoration.¹⁸

The chronicler Fella reports that in 1560 two Basilian monks stole a parchment codex, written in both Greek and Latin, that contained the traditional account of the miracle. The bilingual format is telling: it would have been entirely appropriate for an authentic document from the eleventh century, when Basilian refugees settled in Lanciano. Meanwhile, it would have been unnecessary and impractical for an early modern forger. Though the codex was stolen, the Franciscans had memorized its contents, and later sources—including the 1636 epigraph—preserve its narrative.¹⁹

2.2 - Procurement

The foregoing raises the question of how the Lanciano relics could have come into being at the time that they did. From a skeptical point of view, the only plausible explanation is fraud. That would require a fraudster to obtain human cardiac tissue and blood, fashion them into relics, and successfully introduce them into Lanciano’s devotional life in such a way that they were received as ancient and venerable.

A significant problem for this theory is that it would have made no sense for a fraudster to use a human heart. Acquiring and dissecting a fresh human cadaver would have been unnecessarily difficult and risky.²⁰ Animal flesh was easily accessible, cheap, and indistinguishable from human flesh until the early 20th century. Even if someone insisted on using human flesh, superficial muscle would have sufficed. There were no scientific means available to verify species or organ identity, nor was there a devotional tradition that required Eucharistic relics to be heart tissue.²¹

But that isn’t the worst of it. Linoli pointed out that “only a very skilled hand in anatomical dissection could have managed—though not without serious difficulty—to obtain from a hollow organ a uniform and continuous ‘slice’ tangential to the surface of the organ, as is inferred from the predominantly longitudinal course of myocardial fibers, taking into account that is precisely in the superficial, mantle-like area of the heart that the bundles of fibres with a longitudinal course… are found.”²²

• (Knowledge) Human biomechanics favor perpendicular cutting because the hand stabilizes by pushing into tissue, not skimming along it. A tangential cut is a less natural, less stable motion, especially along a doubly curved surface. The only discernible reason to prefer a tangential cut in this context would be to preserve laminar architecture. A premodern fraudster wouldn’t have known about myocardial lamination, wouldn’t have known that fiber orientation varied with depth, and wouldn’t have cared about the legibility of histological features.

• (Technique) Premodern anatomical dissection was expository: the entire tradition was built around radial incisions, organ opening, and gross exposure, not plane tracking along an inhomogenous surface. The skills needed for controlled tangential planing of ventricular walls lay wholly outside the repertoire of Renaissance anatomists. Even if tangential laminar slices had been technically feasible, it is extremely unlikely that a fraudster pioneered and mastered them centuries before anyone else without leaving a trace besides a single artifact.

• (Equipment) To preserve a predominantly longitudinal fiber field, a dissector would have had to maintain sub-degree angular precision and sub-millimeter depth precision. That is not achievable with freehand dissection, especially with premodern instruments. Without mechanical constraints such as depth stops, angle guides, or motion-stabilizing linkages, blade orientation is governed solely by the operator’s unconstrained joints. Small perturbations are geometrically amplified at shallow angles, making drift that exceeds tolerances inevitable.

• (Fixation) The chemical fixitives required for precision sectioning of soft tissue were not invented until the 19th century, and without them excising a uniform, continuous, biventricular slice with a tangential cut would have been practically impossible. Ventricles deform under minimal pressure: they shift, collapse, twist, and recoil. A blade can’t maintain a tangential plane along a surface that moves and reshapes as it is being cut. Deformations occur within the tissue itself, not at the operator-blade interface, so neither skill nor ingenuity could avoid them.

3. Preservation

3.1 - Preparation

Throughout the medieval and early modern periods, the repertoire of preservation techniques was limited: salt and natron curing, smoke-drying, heat, vinegar or alcohol immersion, and embalming resins or balsams.²³ Each leaves behind enduring traces. Salt and natron curing produce crystalline residues and ionically enriched tissue. Smoke-drying and heat discolor tissue, denature proteins, and disfigure microstructure. Immersion in alcohol or vinegar obliterates immunoreactivity. Resins and balsams leave a glossy, resinous surface and distinctive organic residues.²⁴

Linoli determined that none of those methods had ever been applied to the Lanciano relics. His chemical assays showed depressed sodium and chloride levels, the opposite of what would be expected if salt or natron had been applied. Microscopy revealed features that heat or smoke would have obliterated. Immunological testing produced vigorous precipitin reactions, clear AB typing, and fresh-like serum protein fractions, results that cannot be reconciled with the protein denaturation and antigen loss caused by immersion in alcohol, vinegar, or resinous balsams. Nor was there any sign of resinous film, darkened smoke staining, or crystalline deposits on the surface.²⁵

The absence of preservatives and fixitives is decisive evidence against a medieval or early modern fraud. It was common knowledge that flesh and blood needed to be treated. Left to their own devices, they quickly spoil, emit a foul odor, and lose all recognizable form. A fraudster would not have tolerated the risk of immediate putrefaction. Nor would it have cost them anything in terms of credibility to apply a standard technique, since that could have easily been passed off as a custodial decision. The rational course for anyone fabricating relics using perishable materials would have been to employ a familiar, quick, and reliable preservation technique.

3.2 - Storage

Relatedly, without the benefit of artificial stabilization, the relics should have decomposed. Flesh and blood start to decay as soon as they are removed from the body. Coagulated blood clots are among the least stable biological materials: within twenty-four to forty-eight hours they undergo hemolysis and bacterial liquefaction, disintegrating into foul-smelling fluid. Natural desiccation is too sluggish to intervene—surfaces may crust quickly, but interiors remain wet long enough for decay to run its course. From a taphonomic standpoint, the survival of the relics is inexplicable.²⁶

Biological remains are known to perdure only when they are protected by unusually stable environments: constant aridity, deep freezing, or waterlogging. Egyptian mummies, for instance, tend to be well-preserved because they were embalmed and then sealed away from air and humidity.²⁷ By contrast, in addition to being untreated, the Lanciano relics were continuously exposed in liturgical vessels that were neither airtight nor sterile. Linoli noticed mold on the surface of the cardiac tissue—direct evidence of ongoing environmental interaction. The blood clots were stored in a chalice that offered no protection against local environmental fluctuations.²⁸

Furthermore, the biomolecular preservation of the relics would be extraordinary under any storage conditions, up to and including refrigeration in a laboratory.²⁹

• (Abundances) Traces of albumin can be recovered from ancient blood stains with modern techniques that are sensitive enough to detect nanogram-per-milliliter concentrations. Globulins, especially α- and β- globulins, almost never register at all.³⁰ Against that background, Linoli’s results are dumbfounding. The electrophoresis protocol that he employed would not have produced sharp, well-defined peaks unless microgram-per-milliliter concentrations of proteins were available. That implies that the Lanciano eluates have retained serum proteins in abundances that are orders of magnitude greater than comparable remains.³¹

• (Proportions) Electrophoretic tracings follow a predictable trajectory as blood stains age. Albumin migrates, the α- and β- bands vanish, and the γ- band grows disproportionately large. This ‘gamma inflation’ is so consistent that forensic scientists have suggested using it as a dating technique.³² Not only did the Lanciano relics preserve astonishingly high concentrations of serum proteins, they preserved them in the same relative proportions as fresh serum. Linoli’s electropherogram was consistent with serum taken from a living patient.³³ That would have been highly unusual for a blood stain that was less than a year old.

• (Selectivity) Teichmann and Takayama tests, which probe for intact heme, both came back negative. Thin-layer chromatography indicated that hemoglobin breakdown products were present.³⁴ Teichmann and Takayama should have been the last assays to fail: porphyrin rings are chemically resilient, and Teichmann crystals can sometimes be obtained from stains that are decades old, long after labile molecules have disappeared.³⁵ That leaves skeptics with a paradox: the degradation pathway that destroyed heme should have destroyed more labile proteins, yet serum proteins were inexplicably well-preserved.

4. Implications

In view of the foregoing, the only plausible explanation for the origination and preservation of the Lanciano relics is the traditional account: at some point in the first millennium, the consecrated elements perceptibly transformed into flesh and blood during Mass, and they have been miraculously conserved ever since. Moreover, it is apparent that the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano was performed with a vindicatory intent that went far beyond the immediate context of the event.

• (Histological fine-tuning) Recall that the ‘flesh’ is a cross section of the heart that, when examined under a microscope, displays the endocardium, layered myocardial architecture, vascular channels, and nervous elements. The selection of that fragment indicates that the author of the miracle was concerned with modern verification. It allowed modern science to determine that the flesh was heart tissue, while also providing modern audiences with evidence against premodern fraud, compensating for the limitations of the documentary evidence. Conversely, it made the relics less intelligible and interesting for premoderns.

• (Taphonomic fine-tuning) The miraculous conservation of the relics indicates that the author of the miracle intends for them to be trans-historical witnesses that evince the authenticity of the Lanciano tradition. In fact, their state of preservation suggests that the author of the miracle has been more concerned with preserving their evidential value for modern scientists than with preserving their visual appearance. On the one hand, the heart tissue is ligneous and mold-spotted, the blood clots are brittle and fissured, and their surfaces are dull and irregular. On the other hand, they have inexplicably retained enough structural integrity and immunoreactivity to confirm organ and species identity.

4.1 - Message

What message did the author of the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano intend to convey? At a minimum, it is obvious that the author of the miracle intended to confirm the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. That presupposes mere Christianity, so it follows that the miracle was intended to be a vindication of Christianity in general.

What about Catholicism in particular? First, it is worth noting that only the Catholic Church teaches transubstantiation: that the substance of bread and wine is wholly changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Lanciano depicted exactly that: the elements perceptibly became flesh and blood, not merely in a spiritual sense or alongside the bread and wine, but materially and in their entirety. Transubstantiation is compatible with Orthodoxy, but it has less resonance with Orthodox theology, which emphasizes the ineffable mystery of the Eucharist. More significantly, transubstantiation has been repudiated by every form of confessional Protestantism.

Second, the distribution of scientifically verified Eucharistic miracles uniquely privileges Catholicism. I intend to survey the evidence for the rest of them in subsequent installments of this series, but for the time being you’ll just have to take my word for it. In addition to Lanciano, four other Eucharistic miracles have been corroborated by laboratory analyses that have identified samples as heart tissue, and all of them occurred in Catholic contexts.³⁶ If Catholicism is true, that makes perfect sense. According to Catholic doctrine, the Eucharist can only be licitly confected by a priest that is in communion with Rome. Meanwhile, if Catholicism is false, the distribution of Eucharistic miracles between sects is unexpected and confusing.

Might the aforementioned distribution be an artifact of a selection effect? That neglects the vindicatory intent of the miracles. If God intends to use these miracles to send a message, then verification is providential. There would be no reason for him to allow his intended message to be distorted by a sampling bias. To avoid giving a misleading impression that Catholicism was uniquely true, it would have been easy for him to arrange for the scientific verification of a Eucharistic miracle in a rival sect.

5. Replies to Objections

5.1 - Falsification by Linoli?

Objection: During the scientific investigation of the relics in 1970, Linoli was unsupervised. It is entirely possible that he falsified his results.

Reply: First, Linoli never had unfettered control over the relics themselves. He was entrusted only with small fragments for testing; the relics remained in ecclesiastical custody. That meant that he had to be cognizant of the possibility that the custodians would ask an independent researcher to attempt to replicate his findings if any doubts arose. In fact, that safeguard was not merely a theoretical possibility. Recall that an investigator from the University of Siena independently reproduced the results of the absorption–elution test that Linoli performed on the blood clots.

Second, if Linoli falsified his results, he did everything in his power to increase the likelihood that his fraud would be exposed. He voluntarily solicited the opinion of an independent expert, and he voluntarily submitted both photographs and raw data to a scholarly journal. Both of those measures were his idea, they weren’t foisted upon him by anyone else. That is the opposite of the behavior you would expect from a fraudster: instead of minimizing outside scrutiny and retaining plausible deniability, he was much more transparent than he was expected to be. That would have massively and needlessly increased both the risk and complexity of any fraudulent scheme.

Third, Linoli did not have a proportionate motive. He did not parlay his findings into fame or notoriety. He did not write popular books, tour lecture circuits, or cultivate a persona as ‘the scientist of Lanciano.’ Instead, he returned to his ordinary duties. Professionally, there was little to gain and much to lose. A physician and professor who associated himself with a miraculous claim risked being regarded with suspicion by colleagues, collaborators, and journal editors. Had his study been discredited, the reputational damage would have been catastrophic. As a highly educated Catholic, Linoli understood that bearing false witness—especially about the Eucharist—would endanger his soul. Historically, the fabrication of relics has usually been motivated by avarice. For a properly catechized Catholic, a pious fraud is a contradiction in terms.

Fourth, it would not have been practically feasible for Linoli to fabricate the micrographs that he published in his scholarly journal article. In the 1970s, photomicrography was film-based and digital editing was decades away. Falsifying the micrographs would have required Linoli to get his hands on untreated, ancient cardiac tissue. Yet such material is, for all intents and purposes, unobtainable. Pathology collections preserve organs in formalin; archaeological remains rarely retain recognizable myocardium, and when they do, it is mineralized or mummified. It simply would not have been possible for a provincial physician to acquire the centuries-old, naturally desiccated cardiac tissue depicted in Linoli’s micrographs.

Fifth, even if Linoli falsified his results in their entirety, that would only partially explain the origination and preservation of the relics. To fully explain the data, the skeptic has to posit that Linoli’s fraud was a cover-up for a similarly elaborate and nonsensical premodern fraud. Many of the features that exclude a premodern fraud can be inferred from the macroscopic appearance of the relics alone. Although the data that establishes species identity, absence of preservatives, and biomolecular preservation would be undercut, the historically implausible dissection and exceptional preservation in unfavorable storage conditions would be left as remainder.

1. Serafini, F. (2021). A cardiologist examines Jesus: The miraculous Eucharistic phenomena in the light of science. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

2. Linoli, O. (1971). Ricerche istologiche, immunologiche e biochimiche sulla carne e sul sangue del miracolo eucaristico di Lanciano (VIII secolo). Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori, 7(3), 661–674. Siena: Sclavo Institute.

3. Nasuti, N. (1985). The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano: Historical, theological, scientific and photographic documentation. Lanciano: Conventual Franciscan Friars.

4. Ibid.

5. Linoli, O. (1971).

6. Serafini, F. (2021).

7. Nasuti, N. (1985).

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

10. Behringwerke. Wikipedia. Berlin: Wikimedia Foundation.

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11. Nasuti, N. (1985).

12. Serafini, F. (2021).

U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. (1983). Sourcebook in forensic serology, immunology, and biochemistry: Unit IV, Determination of species of origin. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

13. Boyd, W. C. (1946). Forensic immunology. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 37(1), 36–43. Chicago, IL: Northwestern University School of Law.

14. Linoli, O. (1971).

Serafini, F. (2025). Praising a glorious page of forensic pathology: a reply to Kelly Kearse. Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology.

15. Linoli, O. (1971).

Irfan, M. (1967). The electrophoretic pattern of serum proteins in normal animals. Research in Veterinary Science, 8(2), 137–142. London: Academic Press.

16. Nasuti, N. (1985).

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. Ibid.

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21. Hektoen, L. (1918). The precipitin test for blood. Journal of the American Medical Association, 70(9), 639–641. Chicago: American Medical Association.

22. Linoli, O. (1971).

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24. Domański, J., Gałęcki, R., Szleszkowski, Ł., & Kocur, J. (2023). Preservation fluids of heritage anatomical specimens. Journal of Anatomy, 243(1), 125–137. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

25. Nasuti, N. (1985).

26. Bettica Giovannini, R. (1973). The Eucharistic relics of Lanciano in biologic research. Sindon, 17, 30–33. Turin: Centro Internazionale di Sindonologia.

Haglund, W. D., & Sorg, M. H. (Eds.). (1997). Forensic taphonomy: The postmortem fate of human remains. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Clements, T., & Gabbott, S. E. (2022). Exceptional Preservation of Fossil Soft Tissues. eLS, Vol. 2, 1-10. John Wiley & Sons.

27. Rageot, M., Van de Moortel, N., Evershed, R. P., Orczyk, A. E., Foti, L., & Wuttke, S., et al. (2023). Biomolecular insights into ancient embalming agents identify complex balms used in Egyptian mummification. Nature, 620(7975), 689–696. London: Nature Publishing Group.

28. Nasuti, N. (1985).

29. “In Blood elution fluid the protein fractions found are in a relative distribution very close to that of normal fresh blood, with only slight changes due to the age of the sample (for this test the sample cannot normally be kept more than 2-4 days at 4 deg. C) and to the fact that serum, not total Blood, is normally used.” (Nasuti, 1985, pg. 38)

30. Kendall, R., Hendy, J., Collins, M. J., Millard, A. R., & Gowland, R. L. (2016). Poor preservation of antibodies in archaeological human bone and dentine. STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 2(1), 15–24. London: Taylor & Francis.

Cattaneo, C., Gelsthorpe, K., Phillips, P., & Sokol, R. J. (1996). Detection of blood proteins in ancient human bone using ELISA: A comparative study of the survival of IgG and albumin. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 6(5), 393–400. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

31. Linoli, O. (1971).

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32. Bishop, C. P. (2005). Determination of time since deposition of blood stains. Final Report, National Institute of Justice Grant No. 2003-IJ-CX-K012. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Rajamannar, V. (1977). Determination of the age of bloodstains using immunoelectrophoresis. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 22(3), 396–402. Washington, D.C.: American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

33. Nasuti, N. (1985).

34. Ibid.

35. New Zealand Institute of Chemistry. (2002). Blood detection by chemical methods. Forensic Chemistry, 12A, 1–6. Wellington: New Zealand Institute of Chemistry.

36. Serafini, F. (2021).

Serafini, F. (2025).