It co-existed for a time with the hunter-gatherer Pitted Ware culture, which it eventually absorbed, developing into the Nordic Bronze Age.

Sites of the Battle Axe culture have been found throughout the coastal areas of southern Scandinavia and southwest Finland.

[2] Einar Østmo reports sites of the Battle Axe culture inside the Norwegian Arctic Circle in the Lofoten, and as far north as the present city of Tromsø.

Other grave goods include arrowheads, weapons of antler, amber beads, and polished flint axes and chisels.

Archaeological remains of southern Sweden reveal close spatial relations between houses and graves, indicating that farms were central to social and economic activity in the Battle Axe culture.

[9] A genetic study published in Nature in June 2015 examined the remains of a Battle Axe male buried in Viby, Sweden ca.

[12] A genetic study published in Nature Communications in January 2018 examined a male buried in Ölsund in northern Sweden ca.

[14] He was found to be genetically similar to peoples of the Battle Axe culture, carrying a large amount of steppe-related ancestry.

[15][16] The paternal haplogroup R1a1a1b was also found to be the predominant lineage among Corded Ware and Bronze Age males of the eastern Baltic.

[14] A genetic study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B examined the remains of 2 Battle Axe individuals buried in Bergsgraven in central Sweden.

[18] The two Battle Axe individuals examined were found to be closely related to peoples from other parts of the Corded Ware horizon.

The ancestry of the Battle Axe individuals was markedly different from that of previous Neolithic populations, suggesting stratification among the cultural groups.

[19] The study also examined a female buried in a Funnelbeaker megalith in Öllsjö, Sweden c. 2860–2500 BC, during which the area was part of the Battle Axe culture.

She carried the maternal haplogroup H6a1b3,[20] and was found to be closely genetically related to other people of the Battle Axe culture.

[21] Two individuals buried in the same megalith during the Late Neolithic were likewise closely related to peoples of the Corded Ware culture.

[22] Modern Northern Europeans were found to be still closely genetically related to people of the Battle Axe culture.