Meet Red Franz. He’s a bog body from Bourtanger Moor in Germany, named for the color of his flagrant hair, beard, and eyebrows. He lived some time between 200 and 400 A.D. His hair wasn’t red in real life; likely, the reddening was caused by the acids in the peat where he hung out for so long. According to Archaeology magazine, he was quite the horseman: After he was moved to a local museum, scientists examined Franz and discovered “rider’s facets” on his thigh bones, protrusions caused by increased use of the muscles and connective tissues in the hip, which can occur from constant horseback riding. They also found that he had a long-healed injury to his upper arm, possibly caused by an arrowhead, and a broken (and healed) collarbone, both of which he survived for a long time before his execution. Museum curators only detected the actual cause of Franz’s death, when, after decades of being displayed on his back, they turned him over onto his abdomen and saw evidence of a deep gash in his throat, still visible in the remaining soft tissue of the back of his neck and shoulders. Image Source: Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Meet Red Franz. He’s a bog body from Bourtanger Moor in Germany, named for the color of his flagrant hair, beard, and eyebrows. He lived some time between 200 and 400 A.D. His hair wasn’t red in real life; likely, the reddening was caused by the acids in the peat where he hung out for so long.

According to Archaeology magazine, he was quite the horseman:

After he was moved to a local museum, scientists examined Franz and discovered “rider’s facets” on his thigh bones, protrusions caused by increased use of the muscles and connective tissues in the hip, which can occur from constant horseback riding. They also found that he had a long-healed injury to his upper arm, possibly caused by an arrowhead, and a broken (and healed) collarbone, both of which he survived for a long time before his execution. Museum curators only detected the actual cause of Franz’s death, when, after decades of being displayed on his back, they turned him over onto his abdomen and saw evidence of a deep gash in his throat, still visible in the remaining soft tissue of the back of his neck and shoulders.

Image Source: Canadian Museum of Civilization.