In the writing of North Atlantic history, it appears that mainstream historians are essentially interested in modes of consciousness and of political development, and tend to overlook the settlers’ earliest economic patterns. However, as discussed in the historiography chapter, the review of scientists’ narratives has indicated that the range of environmental data available allows for the re-assessment of the emergence of fish trade in Iceland and, to a certain extent, the Faeroes. These empirical data together with written sources will enable the building of coherent theories about the exploitation of fish on a commercial scale prior to the thirteenth century.

The elaboration and development of the method used for the present study is to propose a new line of inquiry and evidence to fill the gap within the historical discourse through environmental sciences such as zooarchaeology, but principally micromorphology. The theoretical approach supporting the methodology presented here is influenced by that developed in France in the second half of the nineteenth century by Lucien Febvre who is considered as ‘the founding father of the Annals School’. The Annales d’histoire, économique et sociale was founded in 1928 by historians Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre, and has its roots in the journal Annales: économies, sociétés, civilisations. Their aims were the writing of ‘total history’ by shifting the focus on writing problem-oriented analytical history and looking at human activity comprehensively, and the development of collaborative and integrated works with economists, sociologists, geographers and historians.

The movement developed through three periods; 1920-1945: strong opposition to the tradition of political history by Bloch and Febvre. Bloch developed the regressive method that consists of moving from the known to the unknown. He demonstrated this methodology through his Rois thaumaturges (1924), which is a study on the supernatural power attributed to royal families, especially in France and England during the medieval period. Bloch's use of anthropology, histoire des mentalités and histoire comparée allowed him to explain how the belief in royals’ supernatural power spread. Bloch also researched the origins of rural France from the medieval era, the development of feudal society. Febvre is best known for his position on the integration of sciences in historical work as well as his rejection of the concept that the natural environment determined social evolution (determinism).