It may have been stretched over wood, or when all the metal was there, the bends lent strength, a la the steps in an old metal fire escape step.
But if so, there would have been marks where the nails or screws or wires had been. Also, the handle didn't seem deep enough for two layers.
As for my last comment, there didn't appear to be any piercings from arrows‚ except that a whole section was missing—LOL! Probably they will be able to tell if that was from weaponry or ground rot. Given that the overall shape was still intact, it probably wasn't a rock from a trebuchet, which would have bent it all up!