Abstract Experimental studies on indentation into face-centered cubic (FCC) single crystals such as copper and aluminum were performed to reveal the spatially resolved variation in crystal lattice rotation induced due to wedge indentation. The crystal lattice curvature tensors of the indented crystals were calculated from the in-plane lattice rotation results as measured by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Nye's dislocation density tensors for plane strain deformation of both crystals were determined from the lattice curvature tensors. The least L 2 -norm solutions to the geometrically necessary dislocation densities for the case in which three effective in-plane slip systems were activated in the single crystals associated with the indentation were determined. Results show the formation of lattice rotation discontinuities along with a very high density of geometrically necessary dislocations.