Talmud for Tahorot 6:6

סְפֵק רְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד, טָמֵא, עַד שֶׁיֹּאמַר לֹא נָגַעְתִּי. סְפֵק רְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים טָהוֹר, עַד שֶׁיֹּאמַר נָגַעְתִּי. אֵיזוֹ הִיא רְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים. שְׁבִילֵי בֵית גִּלְגּוּל, וְכֵן כַּיּוֹצֵא בָהֶן, רְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד לְשַׁבָּת, וּרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים לַטֻּמְאָה. אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר, לֹא הֻזְכְּרוּ שְׁבִילֵי בֵית גִּלְגּוּל, אֶלָּא שֶׁהֵם רְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד לְכָךְ וּלְכָךְ. הַשְּׁבִילִים הַמְפֻלָּשִׁים לְבוֹרוֹת וּלְשִׁיחִים וְלִמְעָרוֹת וּלְגִתּוֹת, רְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד לְשַׁבָּת וּרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים לַטֻּמְאָה:

A case of uncertainty [originating] in the private domain [regarding ones purity status] is impure until he says, "I did not touch [the impure object]." A case of uncertainty [originating] in the public domain is pure until he says, "I touched [the impurity]." Which is a public domain? The [narrow, steep and winding] streets [leading up to] <i>Beit Gilgul</i> and those [areas] similar to them are [considered] a private domain regarding [matters of carrying on] Shabbat, but a public domain regarding [matters of purity and] impurity. Rabbi Elazar says: the streets of <i>Beit Gilgul</i> were only mentioned because they are a private domain regarding both of them [i.e. both for matters of carrying on Shabbat and matters of purity]. The paths that lead to pits, cisterns, caves, and wine presses are each a private domain regarding Shabbat, but a public domain regarding impurity.

Jerusalem Talmud Bava Batra

Rebbi Joḥanan said: Somebody became possibly impure⁸⁷Mishnah Ṭahorot 6:6 declares that a doubt which arises about impurity in a private domain is treated as if the case were about certain impurity whereas in a public domain the same case is treated as one of purity. Mishnah 6:7 then notes that an agricultural area is treated like a private domain during the rainy season (the entire time between ploughing at the time of the first rains through harvest in early summer) but as a public domain after the harvest is completed and the fields are cleared. in an agricultural area whether in summer or in winter; this refersn to the dispute between Rebbi Meїr and the Sages⁸⁸Since R. Meїr holds that individual cases have to be decided according to the situation actually before the court (Note 79), for him the problem is not the state of the area when the question arose but when it is asked of the rabbinic authority.. If he comes to ask in summer, one answers him according to the rules of summer; in the winter, one answers him according to the rules of winter. Rebbi Joḥanan said, only days close to the rainy season⁸⁹Even R. Meїr will not decide according to the situation when the question was asked if there was a long interval between the creation of the problem and its resolution..

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