Why Are Humans and Chimpanzees Fascinated by Crystals?

For hundreds of thousands of years, crystals have repeatedly appeared at archaeological sites alongside Homo fossils. Evidence shows that hominins—the ancestors of modern humans—have collected crystal stones at least since 780,000 years ago. However the mystery is that those crystals were not used as weapons, tools, or jewellery. So what were they collecting them for? A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology attempts to answer this question in an unusual way: by testing chimpanzees’ interest in crystals. The results open up the possibility that the appeal of crystals to humans may have deep evolutionary roots. To answer it, they conducted experiments on two groups of chimpanzees accustomed to interacting with humans at the Rainfer Foundation.