...Somebody might have linked to this before, but this is a rather nice tool for examining areas of the shroud in detail:
http://www.sindonology.org/shroudScope/shroudScope.shtml
One could use this tool to zoom in on the patch area and examine the continuity of the density banding that passes through the C14 sample area, if one was interested.
This site is a skeptical view of the "scourge marks":
http://shroudofturinwithoutallthehy...-scourge-marks-surely-on-the-shroud-of-turin/
The author makes a few interesting points that provides daunting evidence against the notion that the "scourge marks" are scourge marks:
1. The claim in that the scourge marks were produced by Roman flagrum which was a whip that had little balls attached to the end of the whip cords. The portion of the whip cord between the little balls is allegedly visible in the shroud image but what is missing is any sign of the whip cord itself that is closer to the handle part of the whip than where the balls are. Somehow the person allegedly doing the whipping causes the end of the whip (including the balls and the whip cord between them) to touch the body of the victim without ever leaving an impression of the whip cord that lies nearer the handle than where the balls are attached.
2. His most devastating argument that the "scourge marks" are not scourge marks is his observation that the "scourge marks" lie on the body and and across the edge of the arms. This would only be possible if the victim held his arms the way they are shown in the shroud image while he was being whipped. Even then because the arms are not in the same plane as the chest the possibility of making "scourge marks" like those in the shroud is essentially zero.
I wondered about a few other things about these "scourge marks". Is the theory that Jesus was whipped first and then crucified? Why doesn't the stake block some of the scourge marks on the back?
Where was the guy standing that was doing all this whipping? There are horizontal "scourge marks" on the lower part of the legs and the upper torso. Was he climbing a ladder to make the upper horizontal "scourge marks" or was his victim being raised and lowered so he could thoroughly cover the body with horizontal "scourge marks"?...