Salado Culture  San Carlos Red-on-Brown bowls usually have a well smudged interior with no interior design. Hohokam Culture Tanque Verde Red-on-Brown bowls usually have a secondary interior design (often pendant from rim) and if smudged is usually a gray or mottled black and brown color. San Carlos bowls usually will not have a raised or indented bottom, while most Tanque Verde bowls will have an intentionally raised or indented bottom. A raised or indented bottom is most common on medium to large Tanque Verde Bowls.

San Carlos Red-on-Brown made different styles (perhaps from different areas) One style is fine line work with the design being painted within upper and lower framing lines. Another style has heavier line work with no upper framing line that can be difficult to distinguish between Tanque Verde Red-on-Brown. This style of the San Carlos is the most difficult to distinguish from Tanque Verde. Again, San Carlos usually will not have an interior bowl design and will have a more well polished and darker black interior than most Tanque Verde bowls. On average, most Tanque Verde vessels are thicker and larger than most San Carlos vessels.