A BOMBSHELL new study of the Shroud of Turin claims to prove that the ancient lost gospel about Jesus' death in the bible was right.

The new analysis claims that the human blood stains found on the mysterious cloth were from an unwashed body - which matches the ancient account of Jesus' burial ritual.

A previous study in 1988 claimed Jesus' body was washed before burial, contradicting the Jewish burial customs in the Bible.

However, Dr Kelly Kearse, an immunologist trained at Johns Hopkins University, analysed the claim and found that the "washing hypothesis" is supposedly not true.

He studied the tested human blood samples found on the Shroud of Turin and claimed to have found that the stains came from an unwashed body.

A key discovery was that serum halos - clear rings around blood clots - were visible on many wounds on the Shroud, the Daily Mail reports.

Dr Kearse noted that these halos only form if blood began to clot before touching the cloth, proving the blood came directly from fresh, unwashed wounds.

He wrote: "The presence of such markings led to the interpretation that clotted blood was transferred to the cloth, and thus, could not have been fabricated by the direct addition of whole blood.

"Relatedly, the improbability that a forger would have added the detail of 'halos/rings' in anticipation of their eventual discovery by the then unknown method of ultraviolet detection has also been commented on relative to the direct addition of blood to the cloth."

Dr Kearse concluded that no known process could produce the Shroud's precise blood patterns from a cleaned corpse.

Several theories have been made about the famed shroud which carries the imprint of the face and body of a bearded man that some believe resembles the son of God.

The shroud appears to show a man with sunken eyes who is between 5ft 7in to 6ft tall.

Some claim markings on the body resemble horror crucifixion wounds.

Signs of wounds from a thorny crown on the head, injuries to the arms and shoulders and lacerations to the back have all been reported by researchers.

Most estimates say Jesus was crucified in AD 33, based on the Julian calendar, Bible passages and gospels from the time - 1,991 years ago.

Researchers in 1988 claimed to have debunked the relic and proved it was from the Middle Ages - hundreds of years after Jesus.

Dr Liberato De Caro, lead author of the latest study, said the old research - which used carbon dating to estimate the shroud was made between the years 1260 and 1390 - was unreliable.

The Bible states Joseph of Arimathea was the man who wrapped Jesus' body in linen before placing it in the tomb.

A passage from Matthew 27:59-60 reads: "Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a new linen cloth.

"He put Jesus' body in a new tomb that he had dug in a wall of rock."