Looks like a pulley stay to me. Snake a rope through one end, loop it around a pulley or capstan and bring the same end back through the other hole and make an overhand knot. Now you can use this gismo to adjust the tension or length of the loop by pulling on gismo, when you release it, the tension makes the rope bind and it won't slip through.
The assertion that the design represents a constellation is risible on its face.
The assertion is that it represents *two* constellations, which is even more, uh, risible. :')