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BELOW Lying off the west coast of Scotland, the tiny island of Iona with its 6th century monastery was a beacon of Christian scholarship and creativity during the Medieval period.

Exploring Scotland’s most sacred place

The Scottish island of Iona was one of the most influential Christian centres in Early Medieval Europe. But how much of its first monastery, built in the 6th century, has survived to the present day? As 2013, the 1,450th anniversary of its foundation, approached, it was time to find out, as Peter Yeoman explains.

Above A wall painting from Pompeii, depicting a bundle of asparagus on a bench, with a range of other culinary delights.

Asparagus in the Roman World

As the asparagus season gets under way, and possible Romano-British asparagus beds are discovered in Cambridge, Stefanie Hoss explores how a Mediterranean passion for this delicacy developed offshoots in the northern provinces.