my %params =
(
    param1 => 'thing',
    param2 => 'other thing',
    # bunches o' stuff
    param61 => 'whew!',
);

initialize_object(%params);

# later ...

sub initialize_object
{
    my %params = @_;

    # do something useful, presumably
}

##</code><code>##

my $params =
{
    param1 => 'thing',
    param2 => 'other thing',
    # bunches o' stuff
    param61 => 'whew!',
};

initialize_object($params);

# later ...

sub initialize_object
{
    my ($params) = @_;

    # do something useful, presumably
}