Stones from the Bronze Age: Raw materials and exploration of the stone artifacts from Panlongcheng

•The first time in China to analyze the ground stone tools unearthed from a Bronze Age site in combination with archaeological, petrographic, and geological methods.•Results reveal people consciously selected different stones in specific areas to produce stone tools with different functions.•Calls into question the assumption that the production of stone tools was simple, and the materials were taken locally during the Bronze Age of China.•Calls for research on ground stone tools in the Bronze Age of China to have a more comprehensive understanding of the past society.