Shroud of Turin: Scientists say Jesus relic is the real deal

Talk about timing. Just a few days before Christmas, a new study is suggesting that the Shroud of Turin -- the robe that apparently swaddled Jesus' dead body and left an imprint of his face -- may be real.

Well, to be exact, what scientists at a lab outside Rome are saying is that the imprint could not possibly have been faked with the technology available when the shroud emerged in the medieval period, reports the U.K.s Telegraph. But, they note, the research is far from complete.

"We are not at the conclusion, we are composing pieces of a fascinating and complex scientific puzzle," the team writes in their report.

The conclusion already being leaped to by several believers is that the new research bolsters the claim that the shroud imprint could only have been made by a supernatural event.

Previous tests of the shroud suggested it dated from between 1260 and 1390, but those findings have been disputed on the basis that the results were contaminated by fibers of cloth used to repair the relic.