Simple Solution

Some historians are trying to figure out an ancient board game dating from the days of the Roman Empire. It was discovered when construction in Slovakia unearthed the tomb in which it was found, along with part of the occupant's skeleton and other grave items.

The game board -- and if you look at the picture at the link you will see it is literally made of boards -- is a 17x18 grid of squares and some black and white counters in different sizes. While other archaeological and historical records provide some possible hints, there's nothing that suggests exactly what the game is or how to play it. It resembles a Roman game that went out of fashion about 300 years earlier than the man in the tomb was buried, but there are significant differences that make the more recent game still a mystery.

I would offer them my game expertise, but I come from a group of friends that had a habit of making up our own rules for games even before we lost the official printed set that came in the box, so I would probably not be much help.