Final answer:
Long bones like the femur are commonly used for determining stature, with epiphyseal fusion being indicative of age in children and transition analysis of skeletal markers for adults. Traditional age estimation methods categorize individuals into age stages based on morphology but may underestimate older ages. DEXA is another method used for measuring bone density, further contributing to understanding stature and age.
Step-by-step explanation:
Methods using long bones such as the femur or the metatarsals are most popular for determining stature. These bones are significant indicators of a person's height because of the predictable way in which they grow. In the case of children, a radiograph of a child's femur can be used to determine the approximate age based on stages of bone development, such as epiphyseal fusion. For adults, transition analysis can be applied to various skeletal markers, specifically on parts of the pelvis and skull which undergo morphological changes that are somewhat predictable with age.
Traditional methods of age estimation involve assigning a skeleton to an age stage based on specific morphological features of skeletal parts, with each stage having a corresponding mean age at death and an age interval estimated from known-age individuals in the reference sample. However, they often underestimate the age of older adults because these estimates are biased towards younger reference samples. In fact, identifying these bony landmarks is crucial for understanding both the function and changes in the skeleton that occur with age.
Another method, Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), is used to measure bone density and can also provide information about bone health, potentially influencing estimations of stature and age.