Isn't it always the way? You meet someone with striking features, piercing eyes and a 'strong jawline' —and then you find out they weren't quite who you thought.
This, it seems, is decidedly the case for the Blair Atholl Man, a 45-year-old, 5'10'' hunk buried in the Pictish style in the Scottish Highlands some 1,630 years ago.
Found in the Perthshire village of Bridge of Tilt in 1986, he was immortalised in a striking reconstruction in 2017 — and presented as an example of an ancient Pict.
However, new chemical isotope analysis by archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen have revealed that Blair Atholl Man was not a local after all.
In fact, the team said, the man likely grew up on Scotland's western coast, perhaps on one of the islands in the Hebrides, or even in further-flung Ireland.
At the time, what is today Perthshire was an emerging centre for Christianity — teasing the possibility that the Blair Atholl Man may have been a missionary.
Either way, the findings add to mounting evidence that people travelled and relocated over long distances in early medieval Scotland.
Found in Perthshire in 1985, Blair Atholl Man was immortalised in a striking reconstruction in 2017 (pictured) — and presented as an example of an ancient Pict. However, new chemical isotope analysis by archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen have revealed that Blair Atholl Man was not a local after all, but may have come from Western Scotland or even Ireland
The study was undertaken by archaeologist and stable isotope expert Orsolya Czére of the University of Aberdeen and her colleagues.
The first part of their investigation involved a measurement of the ratio of sulphur isotopes in collagen extracted from one of Blair Atholl Man's ribs.
Sulphur accumulation in the body can be influenced both by diet but also by living along a coast.
Blair Atholl Man's elevated sulphur isotope ratios indicate that 'he spent the majority of his later life elsewhere, near a coastal location, and therefore may have been a relative newcomer to the [Bridge of Tilt] area,' Ms Czére told Live Science.
Next, the team turned their attention to isotope ration in Blair Atholl Man's tooth enamel — which would have formed during his childhood.
These indicated firstly that the individual grew up around rock formations that were older than those found outcropping in central Scotland.
Furthermore, this must have been in a location with a milder climate, such as might have been found on the western Scottish coastline.
'Strontium and oxygen isotope data suggest this individual did not spend their childhood in the immediate area, the team explained in their paper.
Instead, they added, analysis 'indicates a more westerly childhood origin, in areas that could include Mull, Iona, Tiree, Coll, Skye or even parts of Ireland.'
