I'm certainly no expert, but one thing I did learn at Jackie's knee, was that these particular beads that Joan has shared are from Mizoram. I believe they are meant to mimic the long tapered shell beads worn by the Mizo's close neighbors, the Nagas. When she first started buying this type of bead, they were described to her as being Naga....probably because the dealer thought she had never heard of Mizoram, which at the time she hadn't. As the years went on she learned more and more, and I was fortunate to absorb a tiny bit of her knowledge. I will say, that she continued to learn, and more importantly, keep an open mind till the very end.

I'm guessing that a metal bead, coiled such as these, are a pretty universal/archetypal (sp?) ornament, so some of the following pictures may well be of African beads... so interesting to see and read about beads; I swear I learn something new every time I open BCN!