can a person's age be figured out through this method?
Yes - by examining the teeth, the clavicle, the number of bones, examining the bone osteons under a microscope
Forensic anthropology
The determination of an individual's age by anthropologists depends on whether or not the individual was an adult or a child. The determination of the age of children, under the age of 21, is usually performed by examining the teeth. When teeth are not available, children can be aged based on which growth plates are sealed. The tibia plate seals around age 16 or 17 in girls and around 18 or 19 in boys. The clavicle is the last bone to complete growth and the plate is sealed around age 25. In addition, if a complete skeleton is available anthropologists can count the number of bones. While adults have 206 bones, the bones of a child have not yet fused resulting in a much higher number.

The aging of adult skeletons is not as straightforward as aging a child's skeleton as the skeleton changes little once adulthood is reached. One possible way to estimate the age of an adult skeleton is to look at bone osteons under a microscope. New osteons are constantly formed by bone marrow even after
who was the scientist that expanded the use of relative bone lengths to a more reliable method Alphonse Bertillon what kind of applications does this discipline have? To help identify individuals from bones when other physical characteristics that could be used to identify a body no longer exist;  investigation of war crimes and mass fatality investigations. what is the name of the field of study this exercise falls under? Forensic anthropology
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Forensic anthropology [SEP] Determination of age
The determination of an individual's age by anthropologists depends on whether or not the individual was an adult or a child. The determination of the age of children, under the age of 21, is usually performed by examining the teeth. When teeth are not available, children can be aged based on which growth plates are sealed. The tibia plate seals around age 16 or 17 in girls and around 18 or 19 in boys. The clavicle is the last bone to complete growth and the plate is sealed around age 25. In addition, if a complete skeleton is available anthropologists can count the number of bones.