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→Early Origins
While these traditions often point to a Medieval origin to sausages, we know in reality that sausages likely go back further in time. In Homer's Odyssey, a type of sausage or processed meat is mentioned. In fact, as early as ancient Sumeria and Mesopotamia, animal intestines were mentioned to be stuffed with meat as a type of cuisine. It is very likely sausages developed as separate innovations in varying cultures. One problem for past societies that would have likely led them to develop is the problem of having to preserve meat. Sausages would be ideal because they could be encased and then smoked or dried. It allows meat to be easily stored while with some protective outer covering. Most likely, animal intestines would have been used from the beginning, as they still are for natural or traditional style sausages. Early depictions of sausage manufacturing can be found from ancient Rome (Figure 1).<ref>For more on the origins of sausages, see: Allen, G. (2015). <i>Sausage: a global history</i>.London: Reaktion Books. </ref>
Sausages became common in Europe and much of the Old World, but cultures developed them to suit to their local tastes and meat varieties. Therefore, it is likely there is truth that Vienna and Frankfurt both had existing sausage traditions that likely then influenced what would become the hot dog. In fact, almost any European who likely migrated to the United States in the 18th or 19th centuries could claim credit for developing the hot dog, as very likely the tradition would have been widespread throughout Europe as it is today. Similar to ancient periods, the Medieval period saw continued use of sausages due to the ease in which the food preserves and its convenient packaging. While the use of animal intestines for food packaging would make us think there is a high probability of sickness or infection, which was likely the case in the past, it also likely helped make Europeans and others develop immunity from some parasites that would be found in animal intestines.<ref>For more on what is in a sausage and its history, see: Dalby, A. (2003). Food in the ancient world, from A to Z. London ; New York: Routledge, pg. 294. </ref>
[[File:Roman Food FSLJ Pic 1 zpskiaq5vrz.jpg|thumb|Figure 1. Roman making a sausage.]]
