A very unusual artifact made by ancient Mexicans between 900 B.C. and 400 B.C. is intriguing archaeologists with its shape.

It's politely referred to as having a corncob shape but this artifact has a design and engravings that have experts bewildered. The object is made of jadeite, a material harder than steel, and measures 8.7 centimeters high by 2.5 centimeters wide at its widest point.

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The artifact has designs on its surface that archaeologists have difficulty explaining. What can be seen are rectangular shapes, engraved lines and a "cone" that looks like it's emerging from a sheath. It seems to look like an abstract corncob to some and something entirely different to others.

"The iconography is pretty difficult to interpret; it's definitely not clear," said Carl Wendt, a professor at California State University, Fullerton who is directing the project.

"It seems to be an abstract representation, I believe, of a cob of corn".

Corn was an important part of the diet for people in ancient Mesoamerica. The artifact, however, might have had several uses such as a symbol of authority.

Wendt believes the artifact was placed in the stream as an offering. The offering might have been related to deities, ancestor worship or magic.

Over the past 50 years, thousands of artifacts have been found at the Arroyo Pesquero site in Veracruz, Mexico and these may have been left as offerings.

The artifact was discovered underwater at Arroyo Pesquero in 2012 about three meters below the surface of a deep stream.

In its report, the team that discovered it said the artifact is "extraordinary and unusual archaeological specimen made of mottled brown-and-white jadeite".

The team said the artifact dates to a time of a civilization called the Olmecs, a now vanished people that became famous for stone statues of giant human heads scattered around the rainforest.

The Olmecs also built a city now called "La Venta" some 16 kilometers northeast of Arroyo Pesquero. The city's most prominent feature was a 34 meter tall pyramid.