[1] Some take its meaning to be a label for the period spanning approximately 1300–700 BC in Britain, France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain; that is, the Atlantic coast of Europe.

The Atlantic Bronze Age is characterized by economic and cultural exchange between far-flung communities, resulting in a high degree of cultural similarity seen in coastal communities ranging from central Portugal in the south of coastal Europe, through Galicia (Spain), the Atlantic coast of France, including Armorica (Brittany) to Cornwall in southwest England and as far north as Scotland.

This is evidenced by the frequent use of stone as chevaux-de-frise, the construction of cliff castles, and a similarity of domestic architecture and living spaces, sometimes characterized by roundhouses.

[2] This Bronze Age culture was characterized by distinct regional centers of metal production, linked by regular maritime trade.

This cultural complex includes various items, such as socketed and double-ring bronze axes, sometimes found buried in large hoards in Brittany and Galicia.