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Stephen Compton (aka S. C. Compton), (born Feb 24, 1971 in Perry, Iowa) is an American author. His genre is the mysteries and histories of ancient civilizations with an emphasis on origins of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Olmec civilizations.

Early Years and Career Influences
Stephen Compton was born in Perry, Iowa. When he was 11 years old he went to stay with his grandparents in the jungles of Peru at the edge of a Shipibo Indian village on a lake deep in the rain forest. Here he learned indigenous hunting and fishing skills from the local Peruvians. He found the people incredibly friendly and vivacious in spite of their seeming extreme poverty and circumstances which he witnessed there locally and also at the leper colony in the nearby mountains, where he and his grandparents visited the people and brought food and medicines. This is also where he first encountered ancient Incan ruins and saw the enormous stones they had carved and fitted with intricate precision. In this place his life long fascination with ancient civilizations began.

Another great influence on Stephen's life was his great Aunt Helen Neuenswander, (Nov 30, 1926 - Jan 8, 1990) after serving as a nurse in WWII, got a degree in linguistics and went as a missionary to Guatemala where she learned the spoken Mayan language. She and her partner, Mary Shaw, created an alphabet for the local spoken Mayan language, and translated the entire New Testament into Mayan. They also collected and printed their oral tales in Mayan and English, and published scholarly works abroad. Two of which have entry at Amazon, and Barnes and Nobles booksellers, respectively: Glyphic Implications of Current Time Concepts of the Cubulco Achi (Maya) (published Jan 1, 1981) and Cognitive Studies of Southern Mesoamerica (Dallas, 1977) (publisher Summer Institute of Linguistics Publication #3) All the while, she treated the sick and eventually founded a clinic, which grew into a full hospital, that they named after her when she died.

In his pursuit of knowledge about the ancient civilizations that have been buried in antiquity, he embarked on three research expeditions to archeological sites and museum collections in Mexico, and additional trips to Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Turkey. He visited the Met, the Lourve, the British Museum, the Smithsonian, Dumbarton Oaks in D.C. (a small museum with a brilliant Olmec collection), the Oriental Institute, and the Princeton University Art Museum (which also housed great Olmec holdings and artifacts), and visited the stacks at Newberry Library (which has one of the finest collections of Mesoamerican documents in the world).

Compton hypothesized a new perspective on the mysteries that surround several ancient civilizations, their origins and interconnectedness. Specifically, like a detective making good use of new and extraordinary forensic scientific advancements, including paleo-meteorology, geology and climate anomaly science as recorded in the earth, linguistics, glyphic systems, alphabets and ancient languages, he makes the case for a connection between the sudden and enigmatic Olmec civilization and the exodus of the highly evolved Hyksos people, who were descendants of the biblical Canaanites, from Egypt.

Compton currently makes his home in Chicago, Illinois where he lives with his wife and children and works as an academic journal editor for the Chicago University Press. His next book soon to be published is titled Apocalypse Past.

Education

 * Bachelor of Arts in the Humanities cum laude from Shimer College
 * Master of Liberal Arts from the University of Chicago
 * Master of Arts in Literature from Northwestern University
 * Studied at Oxford University and in Switzerland at L'Abri

Career
Compton dedicated 14 years to the research and writing of Exodus Lost, including travels to archeological sites in Peru, Egypt, Turkey, Mexico, Greece, Israel. He also researched historical and scientific documents relevant to history and artifacts of ancient civilizations in museums and library holdings across Mexico, Europe and America. He is currently employed to edit academic journals in the fields of history and literature at Oxford University Press, Chicago, Illinois.

Authorship
Published Exodus Lost; An Inquiry Into the Genesis of Civilization; Published by Amazon Booksurge Publishing, November 24, 2010
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Notable Works and Awards
A member of the development team that created the android app Chicago Rocks; Description: Embedded in the historic facade of Chicago’s Tribune Tower is a world-tour of famous monuments and highlights of history. On one extreme, a 4600-year-old building block once supported pharaohs as part of the Great Pyramid of Giza. On the other, a twisted steel beam memorializes the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Along the way, visitors experience pieces of the Great Wall of China, the White House, the Kremlin, Notre Dame, the Taj Mahal, the Alamo, Westminster. . . In all, 150 stones cover all 50 states and 37 countries along with a piece of Antarctica and a rock from the Moon! *currently temporarily removed from display. Using a sleek custom panoramic locator, this app guides visitors to the collection, provides details, background information, search, and beautiful images of the stones and the buildings to which they once belonged.ref> https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chicago-rocks/id829708167?ls=1&mt=8

Scholar's Prize for Outstanding Thesis at Northwestern University

Books
Exodus Lost

Apocalypse Past manuscript