CAER Heritage animation

City’s roots brought to life in community film

A major community excavation of one of Wales’s most significant Iron Age hillforts, which uncovered evidence that the origins of Cardiff date back 6,000 years, has been documented in a new film.

Working with CAER Heritage Project lead artist Paul Evans, and film-maker Jon Harrison, pupils from two local schools worked in small groups to create short animation sequences for the animated film, entitled ‘CAER HEDZ’.

As part of the project, young people made individual ‘Celtic Heads’ based on Iron Age examples. More than 40 were made in total. Eight of these heads were then used to create animations that were lip-synched with local voices recorded from volunteers who have been involved in CAER Heritage initiatives.

The CAER Heritage Project is a collaborative research project between Cardiff University, Ely and Caerau Communities First, local schools and local residents. The project centres on one of Cardiff's most important, but little-known, archaeological sites, Caerau Iron Age hillfort.

Caerau hillfort is one of the largest and best preserved in South Wales. Recent excavations by the CAER Heritage Project team including more than 120 local volunteers showed that the origins of Cardiff date back 6,000 years to the early Neolithic era (4,000 – 3,300 BC).

The 'CAER HEDZ' animated film, is funded by AHRC Connected Communities Festival Grant.