A cutaway illustration shows the "entombed" temple Rosalila, the only completely preserved building in Copán, an ancient Maya city in Honduras.

When a new ruler was named, workers held "burials" for existing structures, then built a new temple above the previous ruler's, creating a mountain of nested temples.

Protected by a layer of ancient stucco and sheltered from the elements below what archaeologists call Structure 16, Rosalila is among the best preserved of all Maya structures.

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