An international team believes that the bloodstains on the left arm of the man depicted on the Shroud of Turin indicate that he was crucified in a Y rather than a T position, which would have been a much more cruel and painful death.

New Scientist is reporting on the work of Matteo Borrini of Liverpool John Moores University who wanted to know if the bloodstains on the left arm in the Shroud are consistent with the blood flow of a person crucified in the typical T position.

Borrini asked Luigi Garlaschelli of the University of Pavia, Italy, to assume different crucifixion positions with a tube of donated blood strapped to his wrist in the same position as the nail holes. They found that in order for the blood to trickle down in the way depicted in the Shroud, the arms of the person would have been over his read rather than stretched out to the side.

"This would have been a very painful position and one which would have created difficulty breathing," Borrini said, adding that someone crucified in this position may have died from asphyxiation.

Borrini presented his results at a meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Seattle in February.

The results of the experiment confirm the work of Dr. Gilbert Lavoie of Massachusetts who arrived at the same conclusion in his book, Unlocking the Secrets of the Shroud.

In his study, Dr Lavoie said: "The blood-flow is absolutely consistent with what you see on the Shroud."

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Dr. Borrini described the cruelty of crucifixion which was a common way to execute criminals in Roman times, calling it a "very infamous way to die."

While suspended in a Y position on the cross, "we can imagine that it became more difficult for the subject to breath," he said. "But this problem could be avoided or partially reduced allowing the prisoner to have a rest thanks to the sedile - a small step behind his pelvis - that could be used as a sort of chair."

The sedile wasn't intended to grant some relief to the victim, but was rather designed to prolong his pain, exposure to the sun and public humiliation.

"We have some reports of cruciarii (victim of crucifixion) that stayed on the cross for some days and this could be related to the use of the sedile," he said.

If authorities wanted the person to die more quickly, however, they would use the Y position and then break the victim's legs which would have caused more rapid asphyxiation.

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