Relaxation to equilibrium after strong and collective excitation is studied by using a Hamiltonian dynamical system of a one-dimensional XY model. After an excitation of a domain of K elements, the excitation is concentrated to fewer elements, which are made farther away from equilibrium, and the excitation intensity increases logarithmically with K. Equilibrium is reached only after taking this roundabout route, with the time for relaxation diverging asymptotically as K with γ ≈ 4.2. © 2005 The American Physical Society. γ