Scientists have discovered a stone shrine at the bottom of a volcano in Mexico that appears to be a tiny model of our universe, a stunning new find that surprised researchers. Archaeologists think that the remnants of the shrine, which were found in a natural pond at the Iztaccihuatl volcano, depict a design rather than stars or planets.

Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History believe that this is a traditional myth from the Aztec civilization about how the universe was created. They believe that a large sea monster named Cipactli designed the universe as it is.

The pond is located at an elevation of 13,000 feet, and the remants were foujnd in the center of the pond. These stones appear to float on the surface, just as Cipactli floated on the waters of the Earth.

“Some Mesoamerican myths about the creation of the world indicate that Cipactli (the monster of the earth) floated on the primal waters and from his body the sky and the earth were created,” reads a statement from the National Institute of Anthropology and History. “In this sense, Nahualac, a site located in the foothills of the Iztaccíhuatl volcano, could emulate this conception, since the existence of a tetzacualco (shrine) in the middle of a natural pond and the optical effect that occurs in the water mirror, from which it seems that the structure emanates, suggests that the place is the representation of a primeval time and space, a miniature model of the universe.”