Because of their role in Swiss cartography, the rocks have been declared a "Geotope", a national site of geological heritage.

[1] Genevan scientist Horace Bénédict de Saussure identified the rocks as granite from the Alps in 1779.

[3] More recent analysis has determined their likely origin in the Mont Blanc massif, being dated to around 303 million years before present.

[4] The Repère ("landmark") Pierre du Niton is the name of the rock which is bigger and further from the shore The word Niton is derived from the ancient water god Neptune, who was revered by the Gauls who settled at the lake, as old inscriptions in Geneva and Lausanne indicate.

This has been hypothesized due to square holes at the top of the larger stone, discovered in 1660, which seem to have been hewed by Middle Bronze Age (c. 1500–1200 BCE) axes.