The game of chess has been known in Europe since the Middle Ages. Chess came to Europe via Italy and Spain around 1000 AD via the Byzantine Empire.
The game quickly spread across the continent and was one of the seven virtues that a knight had to master. The church, on the other hand, disapproved the game.
Archaeologists have excavated six game pieces in the south of Germany from an abandoned castle ruin in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg. They found a knight, a dice and four game pieces made of deer antlers.
The knight was part of a set of pieces that were colored red. It is four centimeters high. The special thing about it is that today we only know black and white chess pieces.
The dice has one to six eyes.
The game pieces are flower shaped.
The chess pieces were made in the 11th century.

Source

Fast 1000 Jahre alte Schachfigur in deutscher Ruine entdeckt, Standard, 9. 6. 2024.