Each item shown here features four monkeys surrounding geometric shapes in sets of three. A myth told by the Miraña people suggests that this may represent the Orion constellation, which is identified by its trapezoid of four main stars and three aligned stars in the middle forming the “belt” (pictured below). As the myth recounts:
 

Blowgun Shooter (symbolized by the moon) married Kinkajou (symbolized by Venus) and fathered their child. Kinkajou’s brothers, four Night Monkeys, became jealous of Blowgun Shooter and decapitated him, then hid on the four central poles of the maloca, the communal house. When Blowgun Shooter’s son came of age, he (as the sun) avenged his father’s death by slaying his uncles, placing their skulls on top of the maloca house posts, where they turned into the stars of Orion. 
 

The longer, detailed narrative of the myth parallels the movements of Orion across the night sky in relation to the sun, moon, and Venus at a particular time of the year. By depicting mythic creatures, these artworks make the connection between monkeys (with their reflective eyes at night) and stars, house, and cosmos, and are a way of recording recurring astronomical events related to seasonal cycles.

Image: Constellation of Orion in the night sky. Photo: Denis Rozhnovsky / Alamy Stock Photo