Such cults generally fall into one of three types: those centred on certain shrines or holy places, those centred on certain organizations, and those centred on particular persons.
One of those centres, Caral, has been claimed to be the first urban complex in the Americas.
The poorest remained in those centres, and it became difficult to provide adequate education.
Some of those centres closed when they ran out of supplies or their staff feared violence.
Pits that were "solid", Alan explains, tended to be those centred on a single place.
That's what we've done and those centres on Nauru and Manus are an important part of that".
This will mean relocation for a few, but redundancy for more than 500 people working in those centres.
"We're looking at what we need to do to make sure those centres were safe," she said.
The possibility of another devastating earthquake of a magnitude comparable to those centred at New Madrid in 1811 12 cannot be discounted.
Closing hundreds of children's centres in the next four years is not acceptable; instead we need new ways to make those centres sustainable.
