Program Start
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Narrator
Change, it's inevitable. It's constant. Nothing is static. Nothing stays the same.
Change can be beautiful. Change can also be stressful. Broader systemic changes, like those to our environment, happen incrementally and go undetected in our daily lives. Seeing those changes all at once can be quite a shock.
As the human population continues to expand, towns and cities throughout the world are experiencing monumental changes. This film provides two snapshots to tell one story; the story of the people of the Teotihuacan Valley in Central Mexico. (film reel ticking) In 1961, Pennsylvania State University archeologist, Bill Sanders, filmed a documentary entitled, "Land
and Water
An Ecological Study of the Teotihuacan Valley of Mexico." (gentle gentle music) The film captured the daily lives of people in the valley, farming techniques, pulque production, and even the washing of clothes at one of the many perennial springs. And although that area is home to one of the world's most iconic early civilizations, the archeological site of Teotihuacan, it's never mentioned. Its absence was purposeful. Sanders wanted to focus on the community.
The film was about the hardworking and creative people of the Teotihuacan Valley. (film reel ticking) He was always a person who had a great deal of interest in the ordinary lives of people, and his PhD work down here had made him fascinated with the way in which ordinary people made a living, and all the problems that they faced as parts of households and families. I think it had to do also with his own origins, which were very plain. Unlike many archeologists, he was a person who came from an unprivileged background and who found himself engaged with the traditional agrarian people, and he thought of them as the building blocks.
Bill always believed that land and water were the critical ingredients in terms of understanding human societies. (gentle upbeat music) -
Bill Sanders
and Water
7,000 feet above sea level, in the heart of Mexico is the Valley of Teotihuacan. This small mountain Valley is located only 30 miles from Mexico City. Because of his work with all these farmers in Mesoamerica, he had a very good grasp of ordinary things that people had to do and contend with, which of course comes through in the "Land and Water" film. Well, I regard "Land and Water" as an anthropological classic.
You know, here you have a documentary of a particular time and place that no longer exists, that's in a way irreplaceable because of that. And "Land and Water" gives us a great long-term perspective on what the Teotihuacan Valley was like over 50 years ago, and how it's changed since then, a lot of traditional technologies of agriculture and land use. It's amazing to see the landscape so rural compared to what it is today. (speaking in foreign language) Anybody could have gone around and did it, but he did it, right?
And that's the big issue. And so I think the social relevance of work like this is enormous. It represents a time and place that will never come back. It's hugely significant for the folks here.
And in the end, what do we do in archeology and anthropology? In the end, hopefully we actually help people. (film reel ticking) -
Narrator
and Water
Sanders chose the Teotihuacan Valley for a reason. In the early 1960s, the people there still relied on highly productive farming practices that originated in the 16th century. (birds chirping) There were numerous perennial springs and small rivers that farmers relied upon for irrigating their crops. (gentle water trickling) The population of the valley at that time was around 90,000.
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Bill Sanders
and Water
Economically, the most important hillside cultivate is the maguey, whose sap is fermented into a type of wine called pulque. A few months after castration, the maguey begins to secrete into the taza, a sweet watery liquid called aguamiel or honey water. Twice a day the tlachiqueros or maguey cultivators go out to the maguey fields and extract the aguamiel. The third activity of the hacienda is the production of pulque.
The aguamiel is brought in by burro late in the morning and late in the afternoon and taken to the tinacal or brewery. (liquid pouring) (knife scraping) (speaking in foreign language) (gentle music) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (film reel ticking) (gentle music) -
Narrator
and Water
The original "Land and Water" documentary was released in 1962. Over the next 56 years, it became a standard part of anthropology classes at universities across the United States. The people of the Teotihuacan Valley, however, never had an opportunity to see the film that had captured their lives and livelihoods. Meanwhile, life in the valley changed dramatically.
(people chattering) In 2018, over half a century after it was made, the film was translated into Spanish, and for the first time, shown in the communities where it was made. (gentle upbeat music) The resurrection of "Land and Water" and making it accessible to the public, both the English speaking and the Spanish speaking public, is something I guess, that never crossed our minds in the early days about this. The film was designed to teach things in class. (speaking in foreign language) (water trickling) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (gentle music) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (gentle music) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) -
Narrator
and Water
For several people, the public viewing was more than a stark reminder of how drastically their community has changed. (gentle music) It was a window into their own family history. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (gentle upbeat music) -
Bill Sanders
and Water
Here, Andres Reyes, from the village of Maquixco, diverts some water into the canal surrounding his two quarter acre field. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (film reel ticking) (speaking in foreign language) (dramatic music) -
Narrator
and Water
Today, very little of the valley's agrarian landscape remains. And what does exist is monocropped, worked by machinery, and saturated with chemicals and petroleum-based fertilizers. And the water is all but gone. Many households no longer even have water for daily use, and must rely on people's de agua or water trucks.
The population of the valley has grown from 90,000 in 1962 to over a million, a staggering 1,000% increase. (upbeat dramatic music) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) We have unaccountably Walmarts in the Teotihuacan Valley within a couple of miles from the Pyramid of the Sun. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (gentle music) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (water gently trickling) (gentle music) -
Narrator
and Water
Since 1960 aridity has increased and the water table has dropped by over 50 meters. The average temperature is rising and is predicted to increase 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Like many places throughout the world, the people at the Teotihuacan Valley are facing an uncertain future with overwhelming challenges; not only to their way of life, but life itself. (film reel ticking) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (cheerful music) (gentle music) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (plane engine whirs) In terms of the collapse of Teotihuacan, which of course is a huge issue, and we have not answered it fully.
(gentle music) It gets us asking, well, what made them reject the city? So what went wrong? Were there environmental factors plus social institutions that were failing, or that people lost trust in and ultimately abandoned the system? Now, could that happen here today is anyone's guess, and just like we've seen technological adaptations in the past, we would hope that capturing rainwater and other things that Mexico City is working on would lead to productive outcomes.
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