On the Question of Origin Ancient German Wergeld

The article puts forward a hypothesis that the ancient Germanic wergeld, from which, according to philologists, the German word geld (money) comes, has a common origin with the Mongolian berke (presumably also having the form berkeld), which is based on the social reconstruction of one of the specific historical forms of the Neolithic revolution. The relevance of the task of researching the ancient Germanic weregeld is based on two important historical facts: – the legal institution has been known since time immemorial, described by Tacitus in the 4th century, as the most common and characteristic of the Germans; – according to G. Berkman, the practice of paying wergeld persisted in Europe until the 19th century inclusive. The legal institution, which has retained its regulatory qualities for at least 1,500 years, deserves the close attention of legal scholars. In the body of knowledge about Wergeld, the problem of origin is particularly difficult. At the same time, the anthropology of law makes it possible to develop a special methodology, including a combination of methods of comparative law, ethnology, ethnography, historical linguistics, geography and other scientific disciplines. Of all the known customary legal systems, the customary law of the Buryats (a small people who have inhabited the near-Baikal region since ancient times) is unique in nature, since it has a written form that makes it possible to study autochthonous legal terms in conjunction with various legal institutions. Reconstruction of the social processes of the transition from hunting to cattle breeding (Neolithic revolution) made it possible to detail the origin and evolution of various social institutions and their normative basis. The commonality of economic activity opens up the prospect of studying the genesis of law and state. A conclusion is drawn about the significant mobility of social matter, which united peoples, cultures, languages, legal norms and institutions on a huge continent into one continuous historical process of human evolution.