Besides  the sacred rituals, the complex maze of underground galleries in the Roman period also served to provide hydraulic pipes for tanks and springs, shelters and exit ways in case of danger or real underground dwellings. There are caves which were carved out for defence purposes, evident throughout the whole hypogeum network as well as water lines leading to and from cisterns and sources, and caverns which show evidence of having been used as living areas, especially of the south side of the hill in the vicinity of the gate known as porta Musone.