ABSTRACTProductive applications of geophysics to anthropological questions in American archaeology necessarily involve specific research questions or agendas. While only some anthropological questions can be addressed by shallow geophysics, these techniques provide an opportunity to address some important questions that are fundamental to archaeology. One such agenda is the investigation of ‘persistent places’, which is rooted in anthropological inquiry and which can be investigated, at least in part, by shallow geophysical techniques. For the next stage in the use of remote sensing that goes beyond mere prospection, research agendas must be clearly linked with broader theoretical concepts of what we term inquiry‐based archaeogeophysics. Specifically with regard to the application of geophysics to the study of persistent places, we propose four categories of research that relate to the meaning, context and changing function of such places. These categories include: construction variation, continuity and discontinuity in the use of space, studying natural and/or cultural landscape modifications over time and space, and constancies in the use of space and architecture at the regional level. In order to illustrate these points, we provide examples from sites in Mexico and the USA that represent different time periods (2500 BC to AD 1000), adaptations (hunter–gatherers to intensive agriculturists), and levels of socio‐political complexity (egalitarian to stratified societies). The use of geophysics at these persistent places contributes to our understanding of changes in the use of space and architecture through time. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.