Chimps Love Crystals Just as Much as Humans. Scientists Are Trying to Figure Out Why
Something about crystals captivates us. We collect them, display them on shelves, even attribute healing powers to them.
In fact, archaeological evidence shows our ancestors were collecting quartz and calcite stones as far back as 780,000 years ago — with no evidence those stones were made into tools or served any practical function.
They were seemingly collected just because.
Now a striking new study reveals we aren’t the only ones who can’t resist a gleaming crystal. Chimpanzees, it turns out, are just as drawn to them — and the implications could reshape how we understand the origins of wonder itself.
A Crystallographer Follows His Curiosity
The study, titled “On the origin of our fascination with crystals,” was led by Juan Manuel García-Ruiz, a crystallographer based at the Donostia International Physics Center in Spain.
His career has focused on the physical properties of crystals, but he’s also deeply interested in how crystals have shaped the human mind and art history.
The reasoning was elegant.
Chimpanzees share a common ancestor with humans from roughly 6 to 8 million years ago. If chimps also gravitate toward crystals, it could suggest this attraction is millions of years old and deeply embedded in primate biology.
His team’s findings were published March 3, 2026, in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
Three Experiments Prove Chimps Love for Crystals
The team worked with two separate groups of chimpanzees at Rainfer Fundación Chimpatía, a primate rescue center near Madrid, Spain.
The chimps were described as “enculturated,” meaning they had significant prior exposure to humans and human environments. Across three experiments, the chimps’ behavior left the researchers astonished.
The Monolith Experiment
Named after the iconic object in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the first experiment placed a large, multi-faceted quartz crystal — about one foot tall, weighing 3.3 kg — and a similarly sized sandstone rock on pedestals in the chimps’ outdoor areas.
The chimps were initially curious about both objects but quickly lost interest in the sandstone and focused intensely on the quartz.
“The way they ‘studied’ it there, turning it over to observe it from different angles, was amazing,” García-Ruiz said in an interview with IFL Science.
In one group, the alpha female removed the crystal from its pedestal, after which the group rarely let it out of their sight. A 50-year-old male named Yvan was filmed carrying it while climbing and eating.
In the other group, a chimp named Sandy immediately grabbed both objects and took them inside their sleeping corridor.
When researchers tried to retrieve the crystal, they had to offer large quantities of bananas and yogurt in exchange — suggesting the chimps placed real value on it. Some smaller crystals were never recovered at all.
Crystal Sorting Experiment
In the second experiment, researchers placed pebble piles containing a few small quartz and calcite crystals in the yard. The chimps quickly and deliberately picked the crystals out from among the regular pebbles.
They examined them by rotating them in the light, held them up to their eyes and carried them in their mouths — unusual chimp behavior that may indicate they considered the objects precious.
Security cameras later revealed one chimp still holding a crystal while settling into his sleeping area.
Identifying Multiple Crystal Types
A third experiment added pyrite, a more metallic and cubic-shaped crystal, to the pebble piles alongside quartz and calcite. Sandy scooped up a mouthful of the mix, climbed to an elevated platform and separated all three crystal types from the regular pebbles.
Since quartz, calcite and pyrite differ in transparency, symmetry and surface sheen, this sorting ability surprised the researchers.
What It Means for How We Understand Wonder
The chimps appeared to be attracted to the crystals’ geometric regularity and their ability to transmit or reflect light — qualities that are rare in the natural world, where most objects are irregular or curved.
The phrase used in the study: “The chimpanzees’ interest in crystals goes beyond novelty.”
García-Ruiz believes crystals, as the only naturally occurring objects with precise geometric shapes, may have played a role in helping early humans develop abstract and mathematical thinking.
“We were pleasantly surprised by how strong and seemingly natural the chimpanzees’ attraction to crystals was. This suggests that sensitivity to such objects may have deep evolutionary roots,” García-Ruiz wrote in a statement.
“If our results are correct, then we have had crystals on our minds for at least 7 million years,” García-Ruiz told IFL Science.
The next time you pick up a piece of quartz and find yourself turning it in the light, consider that a chimpanzee somewhere in Spain did the exact same thing — and that the impulse connecting you both may be older than our species itself.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
