The use of these for knitting the fingers of gloves is obviously correct. It explains so many things about them:

Their distribution (northern Europe - where you might need gloves). The knobs (to loop the wool round). The differing sizes of the holes (to fit fingers of different sizes).

To say that the functions of these is unknown is just lazy journalism.

I am sure if one of these had been handed to my late grandmother, who was a keen knitter, she would have recognised what it was for immediately.