Abstract: Currently,hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopic analysis of bone collagen of humans or animals from archaeological sites has been increasingly used in palaeodietary reconstruction in international bioarchaeological fields. Basically,the hydrogen and oxygen in bone collagen are from the foods and drinking water consumed by humans or animals,which is derived from the living ecosystem directly. Therefore,differentiation of hydrogen and oxygen isotope values can provide valuable information on the diets,drinking water,palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment as well as potential organism movement. Although this technique is blooming,there has been no any similar study reported in China. Erlitou site,believed to be an exceptionally large urban center of Erlitou culture,is located in Erlitou Village of Zhaizhen Town,Henan Province,China,dating to 1880~1521 BC according to the chronological studies from the Xia-Shang-Zhou chronology project. According to the marvelous archaeological features,this site is generally regarded as the capital of Xia Dynasty. To understand animal feeding strategies and possible migrations,bone samples of 31 animals from the Erlitou site were chosen for hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope analysis of bulk bone collagen. Samples were comprised of 6 cattle(Bos sp.),6 sheep(Ovis sp.),13 pigs(Sus scrofa domesticus),and 6 deer(Cervus nippon). There is no exact criteria to reveal the bone diagenesis of hydrogen and oxygen specifically. Therefore,the integrity of bone collagen is used as the only standard to reveal the possible contamination. The indexes,such as the collagen yields,carbon and nitrogen contents and atomic C/N ratios of bone collagen from all samples,are all located with the well-preserved range,indicating that the collagen extracted can be used for isotopic analysis. Hydrogen isotope analysis suggests that the pigs as omnivore had higher mean δD value(-63.6±7.1 ‰,n=13)than other animals(deer,cattle and sheep)as herbivore,which relates to the isotopic enrichment along the trophic level. However,this trend is not significant if one outliner of pig is omitted. The standard deviation of δ18O values of pigs is the lowest(0.3 ‰)among the four kinds of animals,which possibly relate with the strict control on breeding time and slaughter age for pigs by humans. Compared with the wild animal(deer with the mean value of 9.1±0.7 ‰,n=5),higher mean δ18O values for domestic cattle(10.4±0.4 ‰,n=5)and sheep(11.1±0.6 ‰,n=5)are observed,due to more open habitat and the consumption of more C4 plants(millets by-products)and plant fiber fed by humans. Furthermore,the mean δ18O value of sheep is higher than that of cattle,due to the fact that sheep relied more on plant stems or leaves to gain the drinking water. It is interesting to note that ruminant animals(deer,cattle,and sheep)had higher δ18O values than non-ruminant animals(pigs),which can be interpreted as the differences of metabolism and resources of food and drinking water. At last,some individuals with unusual δD or δ18O values within each animal species might be caused by the tribute or cultural exchange from other places to the Erlitou site.