If you give a chimp a crystal, she might not give it back.
Researchers learned this the hard way. They gave quartz, calcite and other types of crystals to chimpanzees in a rehabilitation center. The apes responded with great interest, and the researchers ended up needing to trade large amounts of bananas and yogurt to get back the largest crystal. Others were never retrieved.
The crystal chimp study, published on Wednesday in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, was an attempt to understand what about the shimmering minerals is so attractive to the apes’ closest cousins, us. It was led by Juan Manuel García-Ruiz, a crystallographer at Donostia International Physics Center in Spain.
Dr. García-Ruiz has spent most of his career investigating the material properties of crystals, as well as their research applications. But he’s also very interested in “the impact of crystals on the history of art and the history of mind,” he said. Discoveries of quartz and other crystals at archaeological sites suggest that prehistoric predecessors of humans gathered these stones as far back as 700,000 years ago. Researchers haven’t found evidence that they were turned into tools, ornaments or anything else useful.
Contemporary humans also love crystals, and sometimes ascribe to them healing or other supernatural properties. “Some colleagues say, ‘We have to tell people that this is completely ridiculous,’” Dr. García-Ruiz said. “But for me, what’s important is to tell people why” this belief exists.
Cara Giaimo