How did Paul Wheatley explain the importance of ceremonial centres in early urban cultures?

Paul Wheatley described early urban centers as "cult centres," which functioned as the primary sites for the performance of ritual and the conservation of a society's traditions. In these "ritual cities," the urban locale served as a sacred space that bound rural regions together through shared beliefs and cultural practices.1

According to Wheatley, these centers were characteristic of "segmentary states," where political and economic power was widely dispersed rather than concentrated. Because rulers and temples acted as symbolic embodiments of supernatural or royal cults, they provided a model of social and political order that inspired awe across the hinterlands.1

Rather than being defined by secularism or individualism, urban life in these centers was defined by a calendrical round of ceremonies, feasts, and sacrifices. This focus on the sacred created a strong, unifying bond between the city and the surrounding rural population, as the city broadcast an "orthogenetic" message of tradition that fostered rural-urban solidarity without the antagonism often found in more complex, class-stratified urban societies.1