It is 150,000 years ago; do you know where your ancestors are?

This was the dramatic question posed Thursday night by John Relethford, a professor of anthropology from the State University of New York College at Oneonta.

Relethford attempted to answer his own question during a lecture titled, “Mostly Out of Africa: Genes, Fossils and the Origin of Modern Humans.”

The anthropology department and the Graduate Colloquium Committee co-sponsored the lecture, which began at 7 p.m. at DuSable Hall.

Relethford began by discussing how he began studying the origins of modern humans, and by explaining the “bare bones” of human evolution.

He explained the sources of evidence for determining human origins: the fossil record, the archaeological record, genetic variation in living humans and the genetics of ancient humans.

Relethford also talked about the two main theories of how humans originated: the African Replacement Model, which advocates the idea that modern humans came exclusively from Africa and replaced archaic humans in other regions, and the Multi-regional Evolution Model, which advocates the idea that humans developed over a much broader area.

“Africa has the oldest fossils of modern humans of any region,” Relethford said. “However, there is evidence in that suggests that certain traits developed in Europe or Asia.”

He also pointed out that Africa has the most genetic diversity, a fact that can be explained by that continent having the largest population of human ancestors.

“I estimate about 60 to 70 percent of our ancestors come from Africa,” he said. “The remainder is distributed through the rest of the old world.”

Relethford showed some models of possible genetic distribution over the years. He believes African human genes didn’t replace those of other regions. Rather, he thinks the genes’ traits have mixed and become assimilated.

Relethford concluded his lecture with a question-and-answer forum. While answering a question, he said more merging of the branches in anthropology would move the field forward.

“I want to see more cross-over among the different disciplines,” he said. “At the same time, it’s hard because there is more and more to know about these issues.”

About 40 people came to hear Relethford speak. Many if not all were connected with the department of anthropology.

“John did a good job of addressing a lot of complex data in a clearly understandable manner,” said Fred H. Smith, a former NIU associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of anthropology.

James Hurlbert, a graduate student of anthropology, echoed Smith’s response, adding that he was grateful to see the university brining in such great speakers.