Square nail fishing hooks?

[Dig-MV]

I keep finding these old nails bent into a J shapes on my dredge sand beach. Could they have been makeshift fishing hooks in the 17-1800s? The sand came from the bottom of the nearby harbor. Historic fishing and whaling harbor. Let me know what you think

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Clench nails. They are bent like that to hold thin strips of wood together to make a clinker-built/lapstrake hull.

 

[Dig-MV]

That makes sense thank you for the fast reply

 

[TooManyHobbies]

I found a couple just like those last week at a colonial foundation way out in the woods. No chance of a boat around, could they also have been used for clapboard siding? I actually thought they were nails for ox or horse shoes.

 

[Rob in KS]

They could also be from a door. It's called dead nailing. Hence dead as a door nail.