Interesting. I am looking forward to seeing some examples. I had one blade that was almost a candidate, it was a European blade that had spent time in Indonesia. Sadly, it had only 3 large holes and 4 small ones. I am not convinced they weren't added by an unscrupulous seller at some point. It seems that the dots typically would be in denominations of 10, 50, or 150 representing Psalms plus the gauds or large beads for a Paternostro. A Rosery can have several versions depending on the purpose ordered in "decades." I am attaching a link to a short summary on prayer beads I found that includes a small bibliography. Actually, quite topically enlightening and not linked to a commercial site that I can find.
http://www.paternoster-row.medievalscotland.org/