In this paper, an ultra-broadband and polarization insensitive terahertz (THz) metamaterial absorber is presented and investigated. With the optimization of the structural parameters, resonant peaks are merged into a broadband absorption spectrum. The simulation results demonstrate that a wide bandwidth of 3.1 THz is obtained in the range from 2.6 to 5.7 THz, where the absorption is higher than 90% for the normal incident THz waves. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of absorption spectrum is 95% with respect to central frequency (similar to 4 THz), which is five times greater than the FWHM of a single layer structure. Furthermore, this structure can keep the absorption above 88% over a large frequency range (>2.5 THz) when the incident angle is smaller than 50 degrees. This metamaterial absorber can find potential applications in terahertz imaging and stealth technology. Crown Copyright (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.