If the tiny sandstone figure Oleson excavated is indeed a rook, it may be the single oldest chess piece ever discovered, dating to roughly 1,300 years ago.

The rook in question certainly wasn't the first chess piece ever created, but it may be the oldest found to date. John Peter Oleson Almost 30 years after its discovery, a small sandstone figurine ...

Archaeologists think they may have discovered the oldest chess piece in the world, excavated from a seventh-century trading site in Jordan.