This article argues that while the Doubting Antiquity movement crucially spurred the introduction of archaeology into China in the early twentieth century, the discipline’s subsequent close alignment with traditional historiography has restricted its scope and potential. Chinese archaeologists continue to rely heavily on textual corrobation, limiting archaeology to unearthing a small fraction of “underground texts”, while largely neglecting the rich social and cultural information that silent artifacts can yield. Consequently, reconstruction of ancient history has become fixated on validating written records, with skepticism of such records dismissed as “obsolete” or even disloyal to nationality. Drawing on modern scientific principles, however, the author contends that properly interrogating historical sources and extracting independent insights from archaeological remains—not simply attaching archaeology to established narrative—lies at the heart of more credible and inclusive reconstructions of the past. Reviewing paradigm shifts in Western archaeology and the “New History”, the paper highlights how these movements have embraced theory, quantitative analysis, and inter-disciplinary appraoches to illuminate broad social processes. By contrast, many Chinese inquiries remain entrenched in text-oriented methods inherited from older historiography. Reclaiming the critical spirit of the Doubting Antiquity shcool is advocated as a means to revitalize research on ancient China’s development, expand the use of archaeological data to address deeper questions, and engage more meaningfully with international scholarship on early civilization.