From The Mail Online

Ancient shaman discovered in Mexican tomb: 1,500-year-old sculpture found guarding bodies in underground shaft

The tomb, complete with the figure, was uncovered by archaeologists in the city of Villa de Alverez in Colima, Mexico
Six pots of different sizes and human bones were found in the underground burial chamber along with the figure, which measures around 20 inches
Few of the statues have been found intact as many have fallen victim to grave robbers in the region

The sculpture has a long face and holds a weapon to guard the shaft tomb which was covered over by slabs of volcanic rock. Six pots of different sizes (pictured) were also recovered

By Sarah Griffiths
PUBLISHED: 12:49 EST, 14 March 2014 | UPDATED: 13:18 EST, 14 March 2014

He has been guarding a tomb for over 1,500 years.
And only now have a team of archaeologists come across a shaman sculpture in an underground burial chamber in the state of Colima, Mexico.
It is unusual to find one of the statues intact as many have fallen victim to tomb raiders over the centuries.
The sculpture has a long face and holds a weapon - probably an axe - to guard the shaft tomb which was covered over by slabs of volcanic rock.
It was uncovered by archaeologists at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) who have become the first people to see the sculpture in hundreds of years.
Archaeologist Marco Zavaleta explained that the model was found in the entrance of an underground funerary space in Villa de Alverez.
'With regards to the figure of the shaman, he was found upright and is holding some kind of weapon, probably an axe. He was placed exactly at the entrance, towards the crypt. He is some kind of a guardian of the main character deposited inside the shaft tomb,' he said.
Sites nearby have recently revealed burials of around 35 adults and three infants in cists - small stone coffin-like boxes or used to hold bodies from a slightly later period.
The square shaft, which is around one-and-a-half metres deep, is thought to date to between 300 AD and 600AD and leads to an underground vault measuring approximately two metres squared, containing bones of either one or two individuals, physical anthropologist Rosa Maria Flores Ramirez explained.
They could have been moved to the sides of the vault to make way for another individual who was found lying on his back, who was presumably buried slightly later.

Other shaman figures discovered from the time are less stylised and more representative of the ancient people, some of whom practiced cranial deformation to elongate their heads.
It is believed that burials of this kind belonged to elite members of society as only richer people had the resources to fund such constructions.
Dogs were also buried with important people at the time as a guide to the underworld for the deceased and archaeologists have recovered what they think are dog’s teeth from the Villa de Alverez site, hinting that those laid to rest there were of high social standing.

Hey darlings!

I am so excited to tell you about this great new project! Here's the press release:

KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED FOR
RANK, A NEW SCRIPTED DRAMA THAT TAKES VIEWERS INTO THE UNEXPECTED WORLD OF STREET CHESS

Creator Tonya Michelle to Couple Ensemble Cast, Los Angeles Setting, Unconventional Backstories;

Bringing Gritty Drama to Life

LOS ANGELES – March 10, 2014 – Los Angeles-based director Tonya Michelle has launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign beginning today for the scripted chess drama, RANK, a new series profiling characters who call Los Angeles home and battle it out on the chess board to establish rank. The goal for the Kickstarter project is set at $100,000 to cover costs associated with producing the pilot episode of the new show.

The first season of RANK takes inspiration from the sometimes edgy and intense action that Michelle has experienced in the Ladera Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Michelle’s interest in chess came about in college when she was intrigued with “the thinking man’s game.” Seeing a challenge in the male-dominated competition, Michelle tracked down the only African American Grandmaster, Maurice Ashley, in the United States while living in New York and pursued the game in earnest. Back on the West Coast, Michelle found her way to the Ladera Heights section of Los Angeles where Grandmasters, experts and novices come together every afternoon and face-off while playing one of the world's most popular games…and started to play herself.

As she continues to explore this class-breaking game subculture, Michelle believes that chess has the power to bring communities together regardless of profession or income level – a core tenet of the series. RANK explores a little-known world, where the games on the chessboard often mirror the life lessons that each of the characters experience – with the show moving from the adrenaline rush of winning to trying to survive the daily grind. The ensemble drama aims to illuminate the complexities of how people interact while living together in Los Angeles, where all ranks of people intersect in an interwoven world of chess, gambling, passion, friendship and loyalty.

“RANK is inspired by community, and the highs and lows that people experience in everyday life—not everyone in Los Angeles is a Hollywood starlet or a gang-banger, as many TV shows would have you believe,” said Tonya Michelle. “I’m calling on the chess community and people who are intrigued about this world to support my idea so that I may have a chance to create a smart and resonant drama, much like HBO’s The Wire.”

Michelle is using Kickstarter funds for production costs including film equipment rentals, actors, locations, production crew and vehicles, editing, theatre rental, publicity, post production costs, insurance, rental truck and catering. Pledge levels range from $1.00 to $10,000 and offer rewards such as being a featured extra in the pilot or receiving an Associate Producer credit.

Kickstarter is a crowd-funding platform for creative projects where backers pledge money in exchange for rewards. As an all-or-nothing platform, if a project meets its funding goal, backers receive their rewards and the project creator receives the backers’ pledges. However, if a project does not meet its funding goal, no money or rewards change hands.

For more information about RANK and to support the project, please visit Tonya Michelle’s Kickstarter project!

About RANK Creator Tonya Michelle:

Chicago native Tonya Michelle is a writer/director living in Los Angeles. An avid chess player herself, Michelle was inspired to createRANK based on the super competitive chess community at a local Starbucks in the Ladera Heights section of Los Angeles. Michelle has directed five short films, including 1031, which starred Taraji P. Henson, Isaiah Washington, and Vanessa Bell Calloway. In addition, she has written two screenplays, and one stage play. In addition to production-side work, Michelle has worked in business-side capacities at Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, MTV, and Warner Bros. Studios.

Michelle is a graduate of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago. She has a BFA in Theatre Directing from Howard University in Washington, DC, and an MFA in Film Directing from The American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles.

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I hope all of our readers here at Goddesschess will consider making a donation. You will be amazed at how much one dollar can do, when combined with hundreds, thousands, and hundreds of thousands of dollars just like yours, itching to do something good! Kickstarter endows the power of each of us as individuals to contribute to a greater, more wonderful whole, and to make dreams come true!