In Oviedo, a northern Spanish city, a small bloodstained piece of linen is also revered as one of the burial cloths used for the burial of Jesus. John refers to a Sudarium" that covered the head and the "linen cloth" or "bandages" (othonion) that covered the body. The is generally thought to be this cloth that covered Jesus' head.
The Cloth of Oviedo's existence and presence in Oviedo since the eighth century and in Spain since the seventh century is well supported by historical documentation. Before these dates the location of the cloth is less certain, but some scholars do trace it to Jerusalem in the first century.
Forensic analysis of the bloodstains on the shroud and the Cloth of Oviedo suggest that both this cloth and the Shroud of Turin may have covered the same head at nearly the same time. From bloodstain patterns, the cloth would have been placed on the man's head while he was in a vertical position, presumably while hanging on the cross. This "sudarion" was then presumably removed before the shroud was applied.
A 1999 study by Mark Guscin, member of the multidisciplinary investigation team of the Spanish Center for Sindonology, investigated the relationship between the two cloths. Based on history, forensic pathology, blood chemistry and stain patterns, Guscin concluded that the two cloths covered the same head at two distinct, but close moments of time.
The Oviedo_Cloth is also known as the Sudarium of Oviedo
