I'm a little familiar (but not much!) with the Tuareg ones - usually stone and I believe while they had a roll in combat (not sure about the sword swinging bit) they also had magical/charm properties.
Interesting paper on the production of the stone ones.
That doesn't shed much light on this item - but one thing I would note, from the photos I really wonder if this isn't bronze? I think I see dull bronze colored metal on some of the edges and inside the cylindrical fasteners.