Are these cyclamen flowering now, Hilary?
A quick translation:
The monument of the Caryatids is situated on the ancient acropolis (citadel) of Caryai and is a copy of part of the ancient temple of Erechtheion on the Acropolis in Athens.
The Caryatids, girls from Caryai, were virgin priestesses who used to dance a devotional dance every year during the Caryateia, the festival in honour of Artemis Caryatis.
Lucian (The Dance, 10) wrote: "The Spartans are considered the best of Greeks, having learnt the Catyatid dance from Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux). They do everything to the accompaniment of music, even fight battles to rhythm and the sound of flute".
Later on girls from other parts of Laconia started taking part in this dance and they also were named Caryatids. The girls of Caryai became renowned for their artistic dancing and their graceful poise, so that all female figures in ancient sculpture were eventually named Caryatids. In architecture such female forms were used instead of columns to support buildings or as decorative features in gateways, facades, cornices, friezes and roofs.