C. Scott Littleton

C. Scott Littleton Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology for Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.

He is one of the proponents of the theory (or related theories) that states that the historical basis for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were a second-century Roman officer named Lucius Artorius Castus and Sarmatian auxiliary horsemen, which Artorius supposedly commanded in Britain.

Early life

C. Scott Littleton was born in Los Angeles, CA, in 1933 and grew up in Hermosa Beach, CA.

Education

He attended Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach, CA (1946-50), served in the U.S. Army in Japan and Korea (1950-52), and attended El Camino College in Torrance, CA (1952-54), before enrolling at UCLA in 1955, where he received his B.A. (1957), M.A. (1962), and Ph.D. (1965). He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at UCLA in 1957.

Professional Life

Dr. Littleton taught anthropology at Occidental College in Los Angeles from 1962 to 2002. His main research areas are comparative Indo-European mythology and folklore, the origin of the legends of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, and Japanese culture, with an emphasis on Shinto. In recent years he has also researched the occult and the paranormal, especially the UFO phenomneon.

Publications

Littleton is the author and editor of several scholarly books

"The New Comparative Mythology" (3rd Edition, University of California Press, 1982)

(editor) "The Sacred East: An Illustrated Guide to Hinduism, Buddhism, Hinduism Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto" (Paperback edition, Ulysses Press, 1999)

"From Scythia to Camelot: A Radical Reinterpretation of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the Holy Grail" (paperback edition, Garland Publishing Inc., 2000) Co-Authored with Linda A. Malcor

"Shinto" (Oxford University Press, 2002)

He is also the author of a science fiction novel

"Phase Two" (paperback edition, The Invisible College Press, 2002)

and a memoir

"2500 Strand: Growing up in Hermosa Beach, California, during World War II" (The Red Pill Press, 2008)

Personal life

C. Scott Littleton, has two adult daughters and lives with his wife Mary Ann in Pasadena, CA.