page_title: Winnowing
section_title: In Europe
hierarchical_section_title: Winnowing / In Europe
context_page_description: Winnowing is an agricultural method developed by ancient cultures for separating grain from chaff. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation.
  In its simplest form it involves throwing the mixture into the air so that the wind blows away the lighter chaff, while the heavier grains fall back down for recovery. Techniques included using a winnowing fan or using a tool on a pile of harvested grain.
context_section_description: In Saxon settlements such as one identified in Northumberland as Bede's Ad Gefrin  (now called Yeavering) the buildings were shown by an excavator's reconstruction to have opposed entries. In barns a draught created by the use of these opposed doorways was used in winnowing.
  The technique developed by the Chinese was not adopted in Europe until the 18th century, when winnowing machines used a 'sail fan'. The rotary winnowing fan was exported to Europe, brought there by Dutch sailors between 1700 and 1720. Apparently they had obtained them from the Dutch settlement of Batavia in Java, Dutch East Indies. The Swedes imported some from south China at about the same time and Jesuits had taken several to France from China by 1720. Until the beginning of the 18th century, no rotary winnowing fans existed in the West.
caption: Le vanneur (The Winnower) by Jean-François Millet, a 19th-century depiction of winnowing by fan
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