Archaeologists on Thursday were still digesting this week's announcement of the discovery of a royal kitchen from the time of the Mayas in the Kabah archaeological area, in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatan.

Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, which announced the finding late Wednesday, said a large number of pots, stone artifacts and other materials were found in the area, along with evidence of fires.

The kitchen is believed to have been 40 meters long and 14 meters wide, and researchers date it at 750-950 A.D., when the pre-Hispanic town of Kabah was in its prime. There is, however, evidence of a human presence in the area as early as 300 B.C., the institute said.

The kitchen is believed to have been part of a palace.

"We think large quantities of food were cooked in palaces, which is why utensils were larger, there were more of them and they had varied shapes for different uses," said archaeologist Lourdes Toscano.

Toscano said researchers were struck by the absence of animal bones at the site, which led them to believe that waste was taken elsewhere. Archaeologists plan to study the traces of organic matter they did find, however, to find out what food was eaten by the community.

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