Rook from b4: 'World's oldest chess piece' carved from sandstone 1,300 years ago is found at a settlement in southern Jordan along the trade route from India across the Middle East ...

The Humayma rook is carved of local sandstone, meaning the individual who owned it was likely not a social elite. ... ebony, gold or rock crystal,” Oleson explains to David.

A small, rectangular stone (right), previously excavated at the Jordanian site of Humayma (shown at left), may be the oldest known chess piece, a rook dating to around 1,300 years ago.