In most museum exhibitions of general history, the first cultural relic that the audience sees is usually a pile of stones from different periods. They are scarred and seem no different from the stones on the roadside. So, why are these stones placed there? Usually, short guide cards do not provide sufficient answers. With confusion and confusion, the audience hurried past. However, what kind of story can these silent stones tell? This is precisely the central question that the book "Let Stones Speak: A Study of Chinese Prehistoric Stone Tools" (hereinafter referred to as "Let Stones Speak") aims to answer. Chen Shengqian, the author of "Let Stones Speak" by Renmin University of China Press, is a professor in the Department of Archaeology and Literature at the School of History of Renmin University of China, and a senior "stone reader". In 1991, Chen Shengqian, who was still an undergraduate student, participated in the archaeological excavation of the Baiyin Changhan Site in Linxi, Inner Mongolia and discovered many agricultural tools dating back 8000 years - stone shovels and hoes. Afterwards, he went to Peking University to pursue a master's degree in Paleolithic archaeology with Mr. L ü Zunger, and went to the United States to study under Professor Louis Benford, the founder of "New Archaeology", for a doctoral degree, focusing on prehistoric archaeology, archaeological theory, stone tool research, and other fields. After returning to China to teach, I led my students to compete with stones and conducted a series of stone tool replication experiments. In 2013, Chen Shengqian returned to the Baiyin Changhan site to verify the functions of stone shovels and hoes. "Let the Stone Speak" can be said to be the author's long-term study of the crystallization of prehistoric Chinese stone tools. The book not only includes the author's personal experience of stone tool archaeology stories, but also theoretical discussions and methodological construction. If we compare the history of human use of tools to a day, at 00:00, the Southern Ape made the first Paleolithic artifact; At 23:56, the popularization of grinding stone tools marked the beginning of the Neolithic era in China; At the last minute before midnight, the Bronze Age began. The Paleolithic period occupied a long period of human history, during which many great events occurred: from apes to humans, language emerged, humans migrated long distances to Asia, and culture, religion, and social organizations emerged. Throughout the long years of human growth, stone tools have always been faithful companions around humanity. Organic matter from hundreds of thousands of years ago is difficult to preserve, and only the stone tools are strong enough to become the only civilization clue left by humans in the Paleolithic era. Stone tools were quite common in the Neolithic Age and Xia, Shang, and Zhou archaeology, but they were easily overlooked due to their unclear information. Therefore, stone archaeology has become a promising research field. The research objects of stone archaeology mainly include the hammered stone tools from the Old Stone Age and the ground stone tools since the New Stone Age. However, it is not easy to make stone tools speak, especially when making them. The humans of the Paleolithic era were more similar to wilderness hunters, and their way of life was very different from ours today. During the Paleolithic period in China, no tombs or houses were found, and even fire ponds were difficult to preserve. Archaeologists often face scattered stone tools on the ground, unable to find contextual connections. Moreover, the shape of stone tools is not stable, making it difficult to identify their artificial properties and functions. For grinding stone tools, researchers often take it for granted to directly analogize them with metal tools, or simply satisfy themselves with knowing their functions,