There are numerous precedents for the themes of The Stones of Nomuru. The idea of using the real-life experiences of Europeans colonizing the New World as resources for science fiction tales dates back at least to H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds (1898; see separate entry), in which Martians attempt to colonize the earth much as the Americas were colonized.

Ray Bradbury's collection of short stories, The Martian Chronicles (1951; see separate entry)), shows a Martian culture being destroyed much the way the Native American culture was by European colonists. Mysterious ruins found on alien planets have also been frequent topics for science fiction tales. For instance, Arthur C. Clarke's short story "The Star" (1955) focuses on the relics of a civilization that was destroyed by a nova. In a particularly moving short story, "The Time Tombs" (1963), J. G. Ballard tells of tombs that contain lifelike recordings of...