SHANGHAI: DNA tests may be able to verify if the newly discovered tomb in central China's Henan province housed the remains of Cao Cao, a politician and general from the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280). Scientists will take samples of DNA from the tomb and from Cao Cao's descendants to try and solve the mystery.

Archeologists have successfully located three regions where Cao's descendants might live today, experts with the Shanghai-based Fudan University said yesterday.

The discovery of a big tomb on Dec 27 last year, which local archeologists said belongs to Cao, has sparked a debate among Chinese citizens over the authenticity of the evidence recovered from the ancient structure, buried in a remote village of Henan province.