A new discovery of the oldest known Buddhist shrine has given archaeologists a more accurate picture of where Buddha lived and how old he actually lived to be.

According to Fox News, scientists found the shrine in Lumbini, a city of Nepal, and its contents link the founder of Buddhism to the sixth century B.C. The discovery is the first time the origin of Buddhism has been set to a specific point in time.

"For the first time we actually have scientific evidence leading to the establishment of one of the major Buddhists shrines," said investigation co-leader Robin Coningham, a professor at Durham University, in a press conference Monday.

"Very little is known about the life of the Buddha, except through textual sources and oral tradition," Coningham said. "We thought 'why not go back to archaeology to try to answer some of the questions about his birth?'"

The dig site also aligned with the traditional Buddhist story of Buddha's birth. Buddhists believe Buddha's mother, Queen Maya Devi, gave birth while holding on to a branch of a tree in the Lumbini garden. The researchers began their dig at this spot and found an unidentified timber structure within the Lumbini Maya Devi Temple.

"What's interesting is we identified a roof tile ... all around the edges of the temple and not in the center," Coningham said. "This indicated something that was very special about the center of the temple. When we started excavating we found another early temple below."

The scientists analyzed brick structure and fragments of charcoal and grains of sand to date the temple. They also confirmed ancient tree roots to be present at the scene, giving "continuity" to the story of Buddha's birth, said Coningham.

Before his death at the age of 80, Buddha advised all Buddhists to visit the Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini and is now a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of Buddhists.

The study on the findings in Lumbini are published in the journal Antiquity and were supported in part by the National Geographic Society.