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To some historians, the Turin Shroud is one of Christianity's most holy relics, said to have been used to wrap the body of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion.
But to others, the relic is nothing more than an elaborate hoax.
This week, researchers from Italy's Institute of Crystallography have reopened the 600-year-old debate once again.
Using a technique called Wide-Angle X-ray scattering, the scientists claim to have discovered fresh evidence that the shroud really does date back to the time of Jesus' life.
So, is the Turin Shroud a genuine relic or just an elaborate fake? MailOnline takes a look at the best evidence on either side of the discussion.
The Shroud of Turin (pictured) is believed by many to be the cloth in which the body of Jesus was wrapped after his death, but not all experts are convinced it is genuine.
What is the Turin Shroud?
The Turin Shroud, also known as the Holy Shroud, is a piece of linen measuring 4.3 metres (14 feet 3 inches) long and 1.1 metres (3 feet 7 inches) wide.
What makes it unique is that it appears to portray two faint, brown images of a 5ft 7' man seen from the front and the back.
According to the Bible, after Jesus was killed by the Romans, his body was carried in a linen shroud and placed in a tomb.
Many claim that these images are evidence that this is the very piece of cloth used to wrap Jesus' body after his death.
The shroud first appeared in 1354 in France. After initially denouncing it as a fake the Catholic church has now embraced the shroud as genuine. Pictured, Pope Frances touches the Shroud of Turin during a visit in 2015
The first evidence of the shroud's existence emerged in 1354 when it appeared in the possession of a knight named Geoffroi de Charnay.
At the time, the local Bishop denounced the shroud as a fake and claimed that it had been painted by a local artist.
However, by the 1400s the authenticity of the shroud was taken for granted and it became an object of worship.
The shroud was extensively damaged by fire and water in December 1532 when its chapel burned down and the material had to be repaired with patches.
Since 1578, the shroud has been stored at the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy where it is occasionally put on display.
According to the biblical interpretation, the markings on the shroud were created when the linen was wrapped lengthways around the body of Jesus
Scientists obtained small samples of the shroud of Turin (left) and exposed it to Wide-Angle X-ray radiation to create an image of the linen sample (right) which was used for dating
Why has it hit the headlines this week?
The shroud has gathered renewed international attention this week due to recent research which hints that it may be a genuine artefact.
Scientists at Italy's Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council assessed a small sample of the shroud using a technique called wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS).
This method is designed to look at the way that cellulose within the flax fibres naturally ages.
Cellulose is made of long chains of molecules which slowly break down into smaller sugar molecules as time passes.
By shining an X-ray through the linen samples, the investigators revealed details of the linen's cellulose patterns and predicted the material's age.
According to this latest study, the shroud's material dates back to around the time of Jesus' life.
This analysis suggests that the Turin Shroud is really 2,000 years old which means it could have been made around the time of Jesus' death
Researchers then compared the cellulose breakdown in the shroud to other linens found in Israel that date back to the first century.
In their study, published in the journal Heritage, the researchers write: ''The data profiles were fully compatible with analogous measurements obtained on a linen sample whose dating, according to historical records, is 55-74 AD, found at Masada, Israel [Herod's famous fortress built on a limestone bedrock overlooking the Dead Sea]'.
Why do some experts believe it's the cloth Jesus was buried in?
Since the 1980s when the Vatican began encouraging scientific study of the shroud, more than 170 peer-reviewed academic papers have been published about the linen sheet.
This makes it one of the most intensely studied man-made objects on Earth, with masses of evidence pointing in either direction.
Beyond the recent WAXS analysis, some of the most compelling evidence for the shroud's veracity has focused on the microscopic properties of the material.
This year, analysis of the flax fibres in the shroud revealed that they were likely grown in the Middle East.
Recent studies have used isotope analysis of the fibres in the shroud to show that the the flax was grown in the Levant, an area now comprised of Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon
Alternative theories which propose that the shroud is a medieval hoax generally suggest that it was made in Western Europe.
However, isotope analysis of fragments of cloth indicates that the flax actually originated from the western Levant, an area now comprised of Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and parts of Jordan and Syria.
The study was commissioned by William Meacham, an independent American archaeologist and member of the board of directors of the Shroud of Turin Education and Research Association.
Mr Meacham told the Catholic Herald: 'With a probable near Eastern origin, new doubts must be raised about interpreting the shroud as simply a fake relic made in medieval Europe, and new questions arise about what the image on the cloth signifies.
'The possibility that this cloth is actually the burial shroud of Jesus is strengthened by this new evidence.'
Some suggest that the blood stains on the shroud (shown in this negative image) are clear evidence that the cloth was used to wrap an injured person
Other studies have focused on the presence of supposed blood stains on the cloth.
While many debate their origin, studies have shown that the reddish stains on the cloth do contain various blood components including haemoglobin, albumin, and immunoglobulin.
In 2017, a group of researchers also from the Institute of Crystallography, claimed to have discovered 'nanoparticles' which indicated the blood came from a torture victim.
Their research suggests that the blood was unusually high in creatinine and ferritin, which are typically found in patients who suffer forceful traumas.
Dr Elvio Carlino, a researcher at the Institute of Crystallography in Bari, Italy, says the tiny particles reveal 'great suffering' of a victim 'wrapped up in the funeral cloth'.
Co-author professor Giulio Fanti, of the University of Padua, said at the time: 'Hence, the presence of these biological nanoparticles found during our experiments point to a violent death for the man wrapped in the Turin Shroud.'
If true that would be consistent with the Biblical interpretation that the shroud contains the blood of Jesus after he was tortured to death on the cross.
Recent analysis has tried to use forensic approaches to recreate the kinds of blood spatters that are seen on the shroud
What is the Shroud of Turin?
The Shroud of Turin is a 14-foot-long linen cloth with a faint image of a crucified man.
The image on the shroud is believed to reflect the story of Jesus' crucifixion, giving rise to the belief that the cloth is the burial shroud of Jesus himself.
The authenticity of the shroud has been frequently brought into question over the years but there are also many studies claiming to validate its origin.
It is considered to be one of the most intensely studied human artefacts in history.
Since it first emerged in 1354 Vatican authorities have repeatedly gone back and forth on whether it should be considered the true burial shroud.
The shroud is currently stored at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin but is only publicly displayed on special occasions.
Why are some experts sceptical?
Not all experts are convinced by the evidence in favour of the shroud's veracity.
The most famous argument against the shroud being real was made in 1988 when the Vatican provided three research labs with samples of the cloth for testing.
Each of these labs subjected the fabric samples to a process called Carbon-14 dating which is used to determine the age of archaeological artifacts.
On Earth, carbon exists in the form of two stable isotopes: C-13 and C-12.
However, when carbon in the atmosphere is struck by cosmic rays it can be transformed into unstable, radioactive C-14.
All living organisms absorb this isotope at a steady rate and, once they die, the isotope decays in a predictable pattern.
This allows scientists to work out how long the biological material in an artefact like the Turin Shroud has been dead.
However, when the labs tested the shroud for C-14, all three came back with the result that the shroud was actually made sometime between 1260 and 1390 AD.
This result would also be consistent with the first recorded appearance of the shroud since it would suddenly appear in 1354 after having supposedly been missing for more than 1,000 years.
Naturally, many researchers have thought to undermine the results of the C-14 study and find reasons why this should not be accepted.
However, other research has also called into doubt the veracity of the garment's supposed blood stains.
Modern forensic analysis has found that the blood stains on the shroud are not consistent with any single body position, suggesting they were added later
Research published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences that the bloodstain patterns were also not consistent with a face-down corpse.
Using techniques from modern crime scene investigations, the researchers found that the blood spatters on the garment could not have been produced in a way that matches the Biblical version of the story.
Dr Matteo Borrini, a forensic scientist at Liverpool John Moores University, told Buzzfeed News: 'Even a crucified or hanging person should leave a distinct blood pattern on the cloth, which would be fascinating information to have.'
However, Dr Borrini's analysis found that the blood patterns were not consistent with any single pose.
This indicates that someone who had been standing was used to print the patterns at different angles for the hands feet and chest.
This suggests that the shroud did not get its distinctive marks by being used as a burial shroud, supporting the idea that it is a medieval hoax.
Will we ever know the truth?
Unfortunately, even with our best modern analysis, we will never arrive at a perfect understanding of the shroud's origin.
Research published in 2015 found that the shroud contained animal and plant DNA from all around the world.
Researchers discovered that, either directly or indirectly, DNA from Europe, North and East Africa, the Caucus, the Middle East, and India had come into contact with the shroud.
Since its discovery, so many people have touched and handled the shroud that it has been thoroughly contaminated.
That makes any DNA analysis of the shroud or the blood stains to look for evidence of Jesus completely useless.
Likewise, many argue that radiocarbon dating of the shroud is now impossible due to its long and tumultuous history.
Historians know that the shroud was definitely patched during the 1500s but are not entirely sure which sections are the patched parts.
This led many to object to the C-14 study on the grounds that the Vatican had accidentally taken part of the patch and not the original cloth.
It isn't clear why the Vatican would fail to provide evidence which would give hard evidence of Jesus, but these complaints are indicative of the kinds of confusion which surround this artefact.
The extensive bacterial buildup on the shroud may also make any form of chemical analysis extremely difficult.
Professor Stephen Mattingly, of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, has suggested that a thousand-year-old ecosystem of microorganisms is constantly adding more C-14 to the shroud.
This would make it nigh on impossible to use traditional radiocarbon dating to figure out when the shroud was manufactured.
Without conclusive DNA evidence or an improvement in techniques it seems unlikely that scientists will ever be able to conclusively prove that the shroud is genuine
Some researchers suggest that modern isotope analysis could be used on limestone dust found on the shroud to work out if it had spent time in Jerusalem.
But even if we could prove that dust from the Middle East had made it to the shroud there is no way of proving how this dust got there since it has been touched and venerated by so many travellers.
Nor could we ever prove that the person wrapped in the shroud, provided there was such a person, was the Jesus Christ described in the Bible.
Ultimately, no matter how much evidence we gather, the origins of the Shroud of Turin are likely to remain a matter of faith.
WHAT IS CARBON DATING AND HOW IS IT USED?
Carbon dating, also referred to as radiocarbon dating or carbon-14 dating, is a method that is used to determine the age of an object.
Carbon-14 is a carbon isotope that is commonly used by archaeologists and historians to date ancient bones and artefacts.
The rate of decay of carbon-14 is constant and easily measured, making it ideal for providing age estimates for anything over 300 years old.
It can only be used on objects containing organic material - that was once 'alive' and therefore contained carbon.
The element carbon apears in nature in a few slightly different varieties, depending on the amount of neutrons in its nucleus.
Called isotopes, these different types of carbon all behave differently.
Most of the stable, naturally occurring carbon on Earth is carbon 12 - it accounts for 99 per cent of the element on our planet.
While carbon-14 is a radioactive version of carbon.
Carbon-14 occurs naturally in the atmosphere as part of carbon dioxide, and animals absorb it when they breathe.
Animals stop taking it in when they die, and a finite amount of the chemical is stored in the body.
Radioactive substances all have a half-life, the length of time it takes for a material to lose half of its radioactivity.
Carbon-14 has a long half-life, 5,370 years to be exact.
This long half-life can be used to find out how old objects are by measuring how much radioactivity is left in a specimen.
Due to the long half-life, archaeologists have been able to date items up to 50,000 years old.
Radiocarbon dating was first invented in the 1940s by an American physical chemist called Willard Libby. He won the 1960 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery.
