London, November 12 A team of archaeologists has claimed to have discovered the palace of Japan's "Boadicea" - the warrior Queen Himiko.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the building covering nearly 300 square metres was located close to the city of Sakurai and the former Japanese capital of Nara, 300 miles south-west of Tokyo.

Built on stilts, the structure was found beside three other aligned buildings, leading archaeologists to believe it is the site of Himiko's Yamatai palace.

"A building cluster that is placed in such a well-planned manner is unprecedented in Japan at that period in time," said Hironobu Ishino, director of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Archaeology.

Queen Himiko is a popular character in Japanese history. She was apparently able to wield great power in the Yamatai Kingdom from around the end of the second century.

Legends handed down from the time describe her as "being skilled with magic".

Japanese revere her as a heroic Boadicea-type figure who unified the kingdom after years of fighting with rival tribes, before her death around 248 AD.

The precise location of Yamatai has been one of the most bitterly disputed issues in Japanese archaeology, with some claiming the kingdom was in present-day Kyushu.

The latest finding supports the claim of central Japan to the queen's lands.

The researchers' conclusions on the palace are supported by a huge traditional keyhole-shape tomb, which is nearby and may be the last resting place of the third-century relative of Emperor Akihito.

Excavation of the tomb could settle that debate once and for all. (ANI)