He's tall, well-preserved, and enjoys archery and gritty food. And despite his bad teeth, a slight stoop and an unfortunate growth on his face, he may be looking for a (very) mature woman.

If this description sounds all too familiar, then you may have found a direct descendant of Thanet’s Bronze Age man.

Experts examining a skeleton found on the Isle last week have painted a vivid picture of how the 4,000-year-old stranger might have looked – and he definitely wasn’t pretty.

The beautifully preserved remains were found during a routine archaeological dig on development site near Monkton on which a fresh fruit produce centre is set to be built.

The Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) has since carried out extensive tests on the remains, and the results are fascinating.

The man is thought to have lived between 2200 and 2400 BC, and was buried in a ‘double ring-ditch’ funery mound, where one circular ditch lies within another – a ‘high status’ grave of which there are few in Kent.

There was a small dagger at his shoulder, and a very rare archer’s wrist guard on his arm.

Director of CAT Paul Bennett said: “We can see the man was about 30 or 40 years old and was very tall for the time – between 5ft 8 and 5ft 10in, which would have been abnormal.

“He also suffered from a number of diseases or deformities.”

~ In pictures: Legacy of the Isle of the Dead>>>

The man had several infused vertebra, and would have suffered from ongoing back problems, and his teeth were also in a very poor state due to the amount of grit present in food at the time.

The man also had an unusually thick skull and a growth between his eyes that could have been a tumour, an infected wound or a birth deformity.

“His teeth were very worn down and would have been painful,” Mr Bennett added. “We can see he lost two adult teeth, so he probably took a trip to a Bronze Age dentist at some point.

“It’s safe to say he wasn’t pretty.”

Mr Bennett said it is possible, given the man’s abnormal height, that he may have been a traveller and not native to Thanet, but could also have been a local man with a series of unfortunate congenital defects.

Further test are being carried out to determine the ancient man’s likely profession and origin.