Threshing floor

Outdoor threshing floors are usually located near a farm or farmhouse, or in places easily accessible from growing areas.

They are usually paved with material that may be of various kinds, for example round stone cobbles about the size of a fist; slate; tile; or sometimes the underlying bedrock itself is exposed.

The floors usually have a slight slope, to avoid water standing on them after rain; and the paving may be divided by rays traced from a central focus to facilitate the pavement.

To overcome possible unevenness, and isolate them from water running off after rain so helping to preserve them, threshing floors are often surrounded by a stout low wall.

The construction was often in a high place, to take advantage of soft and steady winds to facilitate the work of winnowing, separating the grain from the chaff, once the threshing had been completed.

[7] The farm family could use the barn to their advantage in winnowing by standing in a doorway where a slight breeze is magnified by the wind passing around the building.