Carnedd gron Tarren Maerdy (East)

A round cairn from the late Stone Age and early Bronze Age stands on Tarren Maerdy, a hill in the Rhondda Cynon Taf valleys near Pentre. The stone heap marks a burial site linked to ancient religious rites, not to be confused with the ring cairn nearby. Cadw has listed the site under number GM575, recognising its importance among the many monuments left by prehistoric builders.

The builders of this cairn also raised chamber tombs, burial mounds, stone circles, hillforts, Irish huts and standing stones across the landscape. Their work shows how widely these customs spread in the region centuries ago. The Tarren Maerdy cairn forms part of that larger pattern of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains.

Visitors reach the cairn by following paths up the grassy slopes of Tarren Maerdy. The hilltop offers wide views over the valleys and moors around Rhondda Cynon Taf. Among the heather and bilberry the stone circle and burial mounds appear as low humps and rings in the turf. The round cairn itself is a simple grass-covered mound, its stones hidden beneath the surface.