The elastic-plastic contact problem of a rigid sphere indenting a homogeneous halfspace is analyzed with the finite element method. Emphasis is placed on the load range between elastic and fully plastic deformation, which has not yet been fully investigated. The rigid sphere is modeled by contact elements, thus eliminating the need to assume a particular pressure profile. Different elastic properties, with both elastic-perfectly plastic and isotropic strain hardening behaviors, are considered. Up to four complete frictionless load-unload cycles are applied to a peak load of 300 times the load necessary for the initiation of yielding. Results for the contact pressure, surf ace and subsurface stresses, initiation and growth of the plastic zone, and yielding of the half-space during unloading are presented. The effect of residual displacements on the contact pressure during subsequent load cycles is examined. The influence of strain hardening on the loading and residual stresses is analyzed and the consequences for crack initiation are discussed in light of these results. The accumulation of plastic strain in the yielding regions is tracked through the subsequent load cycles as the material approaches a steady-state elastic cycle, and the significance of the loading and residual stresses on the deformation characteristics is interpreted in the context of finite element results.