But for many people, the history of the Shroud appeared to be settled in 1988 when laboratories in Zurich, Oxford and Tucson, Arizona did a simultaneous carbon-dating test on a strip of the linen which had been cut into three.
"The main concern for small business owners is price and reliability," says Steve Chou, the founder of Bumblebee Linens, an online wedding linens company, which has been utilizing low-cost USPS shipping since it launched as an eBay business a few years ago.
Her linens, kitchenware and decorative accessories have pulled in more than $1 billion a year in sales for Kmart, which has been unable to duplicate that success in other areas.
The original engineering drawings, which had been executed on linen, had long ago crumbled to dust.
The southernmost rows of stalls in the main marketplace, which had been occupied by drapers and linen merchants, were removed to clear space for an enlarged churchyard.
Currently, Oceana covers every table with linens, which have to be cleaned and pressed for a princely sum.
The use of 100 L plastic bags for the transitional deposit of linen has been deleted (economy of 450 euros).
The linen-style finish seen here is used inside Siri, which has always been a very dark grey with white text.
Hilco also owns Linens 'N' Things, the home goods retailer that has been reinvented online.
But now he has been rewrapped, head to toe, in the original linen in which he was sent to the afterlife.
