Product Details

• Actors: Jay O. Sanders, Neil Ross, Lance Lewman, Liev Schreiber, Stacy Keach
• Writers: Mark Davis, Mark Hobson
• Producers: D.J. Roller, John Angier
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: April 25, 2006
• Run Time: 56 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000E97HQW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,448 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "NOVA: The Perfect Corpse" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Central Ireland’s waterlogged landscape is no ordinary ground. Here, the moist earth halts decomposition, perfectly preserving stunning evidence of brutal ritualistic killings—corpses from the prehistoric Iron Age, over 2,000 years ago. Make no mistake, these are not skeletons or mummies, but the soft tissue and remains of people trapped in time. The perpetrators of this ancient violence are well beyond the reach of law, but there are still many fascinating secrets their victims will share if only modern science knows how to ask. NOVA is granted exclusive access to the investigation of two recently unearthed and exceedingly rare bog bodies. Enter the lab with the experts as they push archaeological forensics to its limits, aiming to enlighten how these people lived and establish how and why they died.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 2,000 Year-Old Ritualistic Murders!, July 9, 2008

By 

Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NOVA: The Perfect Corpse (DVD)

Two remarkably well preserved bodies with distinct fingerprints but no bones were found in an Irish bog. Detectives were called, but quickly turned the case over to scientists.

Viewers learn that water in peat bogs produces a tanning solution that preserves skin and flesh. A criminologist is called and discovers evidence of stabbing, and that the skulls have been crushed - possibly while kneeling.

Carbon-14 dating establishes that the corpses are from the early Iron Age, during the time of the Celts. Unfortunately the Celts have no written language, so scholars are limited to accounts written centuries later by monks.

Hair analysis establishes the contents of the victim's last meal - milk and cereal products.

After a year of analysis, the most likely explanation is that the victims were from the upper class (gel in the hair came from southern France or Germany) either killed for "minor" crimes (eg. cowardice, sexual deviancy, laziness), and/or a sacrifice to fertility gods.

Bottom-Line: Somewhat interesting, but not a lot for a year's work by a number of talented people.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Work with Incorrect Title, January 20, 2007

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NOVA: The Perfect Corpse (DVD)

This documentary analyzes two bog corpses, not one. Thus the title should have been plural.
It's trivial, but one forensic scientist, who sounds like a bigwig in the Irish government, wears a shirt that shows all her cleavage. I guess white-collar, Irish workers can get away with things that would be deemed exhibitionist in an American context.
I love "The New Detectives," "Forensic Files," and all those programs that read clues off of dead bodies and end up putting criminals behind bars. Those same forensic skills are used here. Who would have known that fingernails, hair, and stomach contents could tell us so much?
One scientist excitedly says, "This could be my ancestor, so let me treat him with respect." Ancient Irish history comes up here a bit as well. Because the United States has such a large percentage of citizens of Irish ancestry, they may love this. This may be something viewers might want to see around St. Patrick's Day.
It's one thing to look at a mummified corpse. It was quite another to see a reenactment of a man's corpse being sunk. At one point, this work has a child actor holding a grown man's decapitated head. This work may not be for the young or the sensitive.
Someone once said, "Mummies are like ambassadors from an ancient culture to our own." I couldn't agree more. This work will fascinate those who find an interest in ancient matters.