Joyce, the reason I feel that the term ancient should be "shaded" to starting around 1250 A.D. is that the Islamic era ends around then. And, It seems to be impossible to distinguish an Islamic era bead that is 800 years old from one that is 1000 or 1200 years old. So, I think of all Islamic era beads as ancient. But, that is just my personal slant on the subject!