Hardness and elastic properties of pure (crystal) and complex (product of corrosion) iron oxides, magnetite (Fe3O4), hematite (alpha-Fe2O3 ) and goethite (alpha-FeO center dot OH), were determined by means of molecular dynamics analysis (MDA) and instrumented indentation. To determine local mechanical properties by indentation, multicyclic loading is performed by using incremental mode. Moreover to study the influence of visco-elastoplastic behaviour of the material, various load-dwell-times were applied at each loading/unloading cycle. To support the indentation results, molecular dynamics analysis based on shell model potential is performed for pure oxides to determine Young's modulus, bulk modulus, Poisson's ratio and shear modulus. The comparison between experimental and theoretical values both with the literature data allows the evaluation of the mechanical properties of the pure oxides. Subsequently, this allows the validation of the mechanical properties of complex oxides which can only be deduced from indentation experiments. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.