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Productive 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 techniquesprovide an opportunity to address someimportant questionsthat 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 goesbeyondmere prospection, research agendasmust be clearlylinkedwithbroader theoreticalconcepts of what we term inquiry-based archaeogeophysics.Specifically with regard to the application ofgeophysics 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 culturallandscape 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.

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Matacapan, a Classic-period center in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico, is known for its strong stylistic affinities with Teotihuacan. The Comoapan complex is a ceramic-production area situated along the southern edge of Matacapan. Data from Comoapan indicate that pottery manufacture was large scale and intensive, with final products distributed outside of Matacapan and possibly beyond the Tuxtlas. These data suggest that models of Tuxtlas political economy emphasizing long-term Teotihuacan administration should be reconsidered. More reasonable is a perspective that views the Tuxtlas as a source of high-quality prestige goods whose distribution is administered by local elite.