"Truth is not buried deeper; it is revealed closer."

I still think this is rhetorical rather than methodological.

Why?

Because archaeology has repeatedly discovered truths that were unknown before.

For example,

new inscriptions,

coins,

or manuscripts

have changed historians' understanding of ancient societies.

So there is no general rule that truth is always "closer" to the present.

That sentence expresses a philosophical preference for emphasizing the present rather than a principle of historical method.