Archaeologists have unearthed an unusual statue depicting a Maya warrior wearing a serpent-shaped helmet in the basement of a pre-Columbian temple in Mexico.

Discovered at Chichén Itzá in the Yucatán Peninsula, the 33cm (13in) tall and 28cm (11in) wide statue is believed to be around 1,000 years old, according to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The statue portrays a warrior adorned in a feathered dress and wearing a helmet shaped like a serpent with open jaws, the Independent reported.

Scholars speculate that it might have originally been part of a larger sculpture from the thriving pre-Columbian civilization, which was one of the major Mayan centers on the Yucatán peninsula, flourishing between the 9th and 13th centuries AD.

Chichén Itzá, at its height, was a populous city housing tens of thousands of people.

Written by B.C. Begley