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The Modern Flintknapping Grading System   (Copyright 2008-2009)    The objective side of our grading system will include 3 aspects of the flintknapping piece. These will include the length, width and diameter. The system includes four separate calculations.   1) Length A piece that is 6 inches are longer is considered to be of higher difficulty to produce, therefore extra points are received for pieces over 6 inches long.   20 points will be received for every inch up to 6 inches. 40 points will be received for every inch over 6 inches. Any fractions of inches will be determined by dividing by that fraction.(ie, 1/4 inch for piece 6 inches or lower would receive 5 pts and 1/4 over 6 inches would receive 10 pts)   Examples---5 inch piece will score 100 points(20X5)                    10 inch piece will score 280 points(6 inches at 20 pts per inch and 4 inches at 40 pts per inch             (20X6=120     40X4=160   120+160= 280)   2) Length X Width Length multiplied by Width at the widest point of the piece. Then multiply that figure by 10 to get total number of points.   Examples---10 inches long by 2 inches wide would receive 200 points.(10X2=20   20X10=200)                       8 inches long by 4 inches wide would receive  320 points(8X4=32  32X10= 320)   3) Width to Thinness Ratio Divide width by diameter of piece(at thickest and widest points)  A piece of a 10/1 ratio is considered to be of higher difficulty to produce, so once a piece reaches 10/1 the points increase dramatically on a sliding scale.   Sliding Scale Points up to 9/1 is 30 pts per ratio(9/1 would be total of 270pts) 10/1 is additional 90 pts  11/1 is additional 90 pts 12/1 is additional  90 pts 13/1 is additional 180 pts 14/1 is additional 360 pts 15/1 is additional 720 pts 16/1+ is additional 1000 pts per 1 ratio increase   Any fractions of a ratio would receive that same % of the next step up in points. For example, 13.5/1 ratio would receive and additional 180 more points(.5 of the 360 you receive at 14/1)   Examples-----A piece 1 7/8 inches wide by 1/8 inch diameter has a ratio of 14.5/1(1.87/.187) and would receive 1240 pts.(270+90+90+90+180+360+360)   A piece 5 inches wide by 3/8 inch diameter has a ratio of 13.3/1(5/.375=13.3) and would receive  828 points(270+90+90+90+180+108)   4)Length to Thinness Ratio Divide the length by the diameter. A 30/1 ratio must be reached before any points are awarded. The sliding scale will be used here as well, giving points by % in the same manner as the W/T sliding scale. 30/1  is 500 pts 40/1  is additional 500 pts 50/1  is additional 750 pts 60/1  is additional 1000 pts 70/1  is additional 1000 pts 80/1  is additional 1000 pts Examples-----A piece which is 10 inches long and 1/4 inch diameter would have a 40/1 ratio and receive 1000 pts. (500+500) A piece that is inches long and 1/8 inch diameter would have a 64/1 ratio and receive 3150 pts(500+500+750+1000+400) All the points from each area are then added together for a total score.   I would like to acknowledge and thank Jim Winn of CA for his help on developing this system.   Disclaimer---This system is not intended for use with eccentrics, very small pieces, or pieces over 1/2 inch in diameter. FOG pressure scores are not intended to be compared to Percussion scores .

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