Santa Cruz Red-on-buff is type of Hohokam Buff Ware with a wide distribution extending from the middle Gila River valley, into the lower Salt River valley, north to the Tonto Basin, and southeast along the Santa Cruz River in Tucson.  This type is also occasionally found south of the U.S.-Mexico border, west along the Colorado River, and east into New Mexico (Meghann M. Vance 2024 - NAU American Southwest Virtual Museum).

 According to Oppelt (2007:124), This type may be considered the epitome of Hohokam ceramic art with very fine line work and careful execution. The layouts are similar to those on Gila Butte Red-on-buff. Common motifs include the line and stagger, free floating fringe, and a variety of life fonns. It has the greatest variety of life forms of any Hohokam Buff Ware type. Life forms include birds, snakes, humans, mammals, reptiles, and insects. Common designs are curvilinear and rectangular with repeated small elements. The decorations are in fugitive mineral paint. Four single or paired trailing lines are common on bowl exteriors. There is no incising on Santa Cruz Red-on-buff. Its temper contains medium amounts of fine to medium angular quartz sand and mica from crushed rock. The swface color is buff to orangish pink, and fue clouds are rare. Fonns of Santa Cruz Red-on-buff are bowls, jars, scoops, ladles, plates, vases, thick walled vessels and effigies. The distribution of this type is principally in the Gila Basin with extensions north to the Tonto Basin, and southeast along the Santa Cruz drainage to Tucson. Occasional sherds are found south to the Mexican border, west to the Colorado River and east to the New Mexico line.