Freestone Hill

July 5, 2019

Early Bronze Age burial mound at Freestone Hill Hillfort, Kilkenny. In the Early Bronze Age, c. 2000 BC, a large burial cairn was built to contain human burials on the summit of Freestone Hill. The cairn was excavated by Gerhard Bersu in 1946 and was found to contain three inhumation burials, along with thirteen cremations. Two of the cremations were associated with Early Bronze Age Food Vessel pottery. None of the inhumations had associated grave-goods and they appear (though this is not certain from the excavation report) to have been secondary insertions into the burial cairn. Today, you can still see remnants of the cairn on the top of Freestone Hill.