The 2012 Summer Archaeology Lecture Series, sponsored by the Western Michigan University Summer Archaeology Program, begins Wednesday at Niles District Library with “Shot and Shell Tell the Tale: Some New Interpretations from Military and Battlefield Archaeology.”

The program, presented by Douglas Scott, begins at 7 p.m. in the Community Room in the lower level of the library, 620 E. Main St., Niles. Scott has studied forts and battlefields and will discuss how archaeological evidence can be used with historical documentation to identify command and control organization on a battlefield.

Three more lectures will be presented in this series.

• On July 25, Larry Horrigan will talk on “Firearms of New France” at Niles District Library.

• On Aug. 1, Robert Myers will talk at the Greater Niles Senior Center on Bell Road on “The Military History of Fort St. Joseph.”

• The final lecture on Aug. 7 will be at the Northern Indiana Center for History in South Bend, with “Minding Militia: Canadian Militiamen and the Great Lakes during the Seven Years War” presented by Joseph Gagne.

In addition to the lectures, the WMU program includes a six-week archaeological dig at the site of Fort St. Joseph with 15 graduate and undergraduate students and eight staff members.

The season culminates with an open house Aug. 11-12 at South Riverfront Park.