1,100-year-old feast -- with a relatable menu -- unearthed at Mayan palace in Mexico

BY ASPEN PFLUGHOEFT
ANUARY 15, 2024 3:42 PM



Archaeologists at an ancient Mayan palace in Palenque found two ritual offering deposits of crab and seafood left from elite feasts, photos show. Photo from the Palenque Archaeological Project via INAH


Hidden within a Mayan palace in Mexico sat the remnants of a decadent feast. The 1,100-year-old menu — once open only to the elites and deities — is still eaten today. Archaeologists unearthed the leftover food at the palace of the ancient Mayan city of Palenque, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a Jan. 10 news release. The multi-story complex was home to the city’s elites and was renovated several times over its centuries of use, according to the institute.

The leftover food was found beneath a staircase and near one of the palace’s most important buildings. Archaeologists identified the remains as ritual offerings from between 600 and 850 A.D., the period when the city was at its peak. The Mayans held ritual feasts to share food between the elites and their deities when important sections of the palace were renovated, experts said. During these rituals, some food was placed in a hole and buried.

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