Variegation
Variegation
is most commonly referred to as banding. It
is also referred to as a plaid pattern seen in the cloth.
It is not related to the weave of the cloth.
Horizontal and vertical (warp and weft) variegation of whiter and darker tone suggest that the yarn was bleached before weaving rather than afterwards. This was common prior to the Middle Ages when methods of field bleaching in the sun were developed.
Variegation suggests that the cloth is not medieval in origin. This in itself is not proof. It is, however, a useful confirmation of all the other evidence that the Shroud is not medieval.