  A Lie groupoid, called \textit{material Lie groupoid}, is associated in a
natural way to any elastic material. The corresponding Lie algebroid, called
\textit{material algebroid}, is used to characterize the uniformity and the
homogeneity properties of the material. The relation to previous results in
terms of $G-$structures is discussed in detail. An illustrative example is
presented as an application of the theory.
