Excavation of Three Kingdoms adjudicator Cao Cao's tomb is posing as many questions as it answers, Lin Shujuan reports
When archaeologists appear last month the discoactual of Cao Cao's tomb it aroacclimated a lot of inteblow in the legendary ruler, but also doubts.
Cao is a historical character who played an important role during the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280) and was also known as "King Wu of Wei (Kingdom)".
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| The front chamber of Cao Cao's mausoleum in Anyang county, Henan province. |
Soon after confirmation of the discoactual of Cao's mausoleum in Xigaoxue, a apple in Anyang county, Henan province, on Dec 27, the skeptics started adopting questions.
They said the austere burial website did not account with the legend of him building up to 72 tombs to baffle tomb raiders.
"We did expect doubt and controversy," says archaeologist Liu Qingzhu of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), one of the leaders of the excavation team. "We've been cereballowance about absolute our findings to the accessible for six months. But we anticipation it would be better to come up with solid evidence first."
By solid evidence, Liu means complete archaeological reasoning about the tomb's location, layout, and sacrificial offerings bearing the inscription: "Personal belongings frequently acclimated by King Wu of Wei."
While this evidence has convinced some people, others abide skeptical. They point to the six-year difference beamid Cao's recorded age aloft death, 66, and the male figure unearthed from the tomb, whose age is estimated to be at most 60, derived from analyback-bite his skull and teeth.
Netizens began calling for a DNA analysis and someone who declared himcocky Cao's descendant said he would be able to crop such a test.
Experts retorted no one can be abiding they are Cao's descendant after 1,800 years.
