[en] Because they populate final states without regard to the details of the nucleonic configurations, neutron-capture γ rays are ideally suited for locating essentially all the low lying nuclear states whose spins lie within a few units of that of the capturing state. With the reduction of the Porter--Thomas fluctuations through the use of neutrons having an energy distribution broad enough to average over a finite (and large) number of capture resonances, the primary capture γ-ray intensities can provide rather definite spin-parity information for those states which they are observed to populate. The power of these studies is greatly enhanced through the analysis of such resonance-averaged spectra at two distinct neutron energies, approx. 2 and approx. 24 keV, obtained from Sc and Fe neutron ''filters'', respectively. The use of resonance-averaged primary γ-ray spectra as a tool for low-energy nuclear spectroscopy is discussed and its strengths and limitations pointed out. Examples are drawn from studies of 2- and 24-keV neutron capture in samples of ^154156157158Gd and ²³⁸U. 20 references